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Elysium: Image
MAH_5314.jpg

THE NATURE
OF MANKIND

Any exploration of man must begin with the nature of man. From what primordial seed do his desires grow? The creation mythos of almost every civilization is eerily similar, each describing a genesis from nothing scenario, with a primordial idol acting as the instigator of this creation. This painting is partial to the Babylonian view of abiogenesis, that of life arising spontaneously from the dark and churning chaos. It also, surprisingly, takes a rather Greek attitude towards sexuality, morality and tragedy. This painting proceeds from left to right in a chronological and perspective fashion.

Set against the teal ocean from which all life came, is a tapestry of everything that makes us human. Lust and war. Hatred and greed. Sloth and pride. Kindness and humility abound as well, but for each virtue there are two sins. Families and friends mingle with warriors and reavers. The Emperor and his nobles, with their silver clothes, watch from above and lead from the front. The poor and the desperate claw at the edges, begging to be let in. The marginalized are made small, their colors taken away and funneled to the very top for the 1% and the rest to bathe themselves in rainbows for every meal.

 

Such is the unending nature of man. Always looking to the future and never learning from the past. Indeed, they are too foolish to realize that, as we show, nothing ever changes. The nature of man and his struggles is so cyclical that the sins and virtues that have come to define him are little more than a broken record, constantly playing on repeat.

Elysium: Text
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