RECENT INSTALLATION PROJECTS BY THE COLLECTIVE ET AL
After experience had taught me that all the usual surroundings of social life are vain and futile; seeing that none of the objects of my fears contained in themselves anything either good or bad, except in so far as the mind is affected by them, I finally resolved to inquire, whether, in fact, there might be anything of which the discovery and attainment would enable me to enjoy continuous, supreme and unending happiness. (Benedict de Spinoza, On the Improvement of the Understanding)
Spinoza (1632-77) devoted his life to thinking about the big questions: the nature of God and the universe, the function of religion, our elusive quest for happiness, the ideals of government, and how we should conduct our lives. It seems, today, we are still seeing the world through lenses that Spinoza ground. Some would prefer that the glasses are rose-tinted; some insist on tinting those glasses before we see. Luckily there are others, like Spinoza, who prefer to dig beneath the surface to reveal things as they are—and, more often than not, the results can be confusing, cold, hard and grey.
Sometimes—as in the Biblical story of Daniel when, during a feast held by the king of Babylon, a mysterious hand appears and writes upon the wall prophesising the downfall of the kingdom—what at first appears as inexplicable can be read as a potent sign, like the words that only the exile Daniel can interpret. Often it is the outsider, the discontent, who becomes the seer—the one who can see through things, reminding us how all too easily we fall under the spell of words.
Power and language, as investigated by the artistic collective now... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline