Don’t Refuse To See It. A Story About Hyperobjects, Black Holes, and Chickens
Today I want to talk about the things that captivate our mind, and makes us think. They can be distractions or contemplations. Here is one so you sleep better today.
- Do animals think about us??
-No.
-Maybe dogs and cats, but does a chicken think about you? Naw..
Don’t Refuse to See It, Colored pencil on paper, 26 x 19 in, 2022
What came first the chicken or the egg?
During my show Forethoughts: Last Paintings of Nature with Swivel Gallery, I met artist Amorelle Jacox. We talked about art, and she mentioned, you know there is a book I think you will enjoy, I even included it as part of my thesis. The book Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of The World by Timothy Morton. A book I have not finished, and will probably never do. Now this conversation was years ago, and I can’t remember everything we talked about, but I was probably talking about the theatrical space, a concept discussed in the book The Return of the Real by Hal Foster. The idea about how the gallery space is a theater where the viewer interacts with art. And this action/acting needs to happen for the artwork on the wall or in the space(sculpture) to exist. If the viewer is not present, acting, the artwork can not exist. Causing a codependence. The work needs the viewer in order to exist. If the viewer is not there, the artwork does not exist, it does not have meaning. When I read it, I was disappointed. I did not like the concept, I wanted to liberate art from us and old ways. So I decided to go against it.
Equal by Richard Sierra at MoMA, Gallery 210
The concept of the theatrical space captivates me until this day, it has become a fundamental principle in my perception and conception of art. Causing me to create with the intention to liberate art from the viewer, asking myself, how can I make the artwork speak for itself. Even if the the viewer is never there in the gallery with the artwork, the artwork speaks, shares its essence and presence. Maybe the work is having a conversation about us with another artwork. They no longer need us to be experienced in order for the artworks to exist. They are independent with their own agency. I love talking about this idea and imagine what the works by Richard Sierra at the MoMA in gallery 210, Equal, are thinking about. Just like what the chickens might be thinking about. Us? Probably not. But these ideas guide me to liberate art from us and innovate. To think outside the chicken. the gallery, the canvas, the mind.
To liberate my work from us text needed to exist. Just like a book, a book exist, without us, probably if the the story does not impact us. The book needs to be read in order to be understood and cause an impact on the reader. So I had to combine it with something else, the image. An image can exist, and cause emotions with color, and recognition. If you recognize the image, what is happening, you can relate and make a subjective meaning. But it meant only some people could relate, not everyone. Which is why I moved away from figure drawing. I did not want to limit myself, the artwork, or the viewer from connecting with one another. Image and text meant the work could speak, it could challenge you, share a complete story through words and visuals. An experience, a memory, a conversation. I wanted the artwork to give you meaning, not just you giving meaning to it every time you came into the gallery. The artwork can exist without us needing to see it in person.
Even if I disappear, or the viewer, if the work survives the end of the world, and new life after humans find it, maybe they will understand what this monolith(artwork) is trying to say. That was the beginning of my work. Art for life after humans. I created the work with the intention for art to be found in the future by another life, and make things right with nature, a codependence for a better path. Not the one we are living, where distractions, internet, nuclear weapons, politics, global warming, and all the things which do not add any value or self-awareness are bringing us closer to extinction. But I think all we are currently experiencing will dictate the new lessons of the future. Maybe not for us, but for a new life. Maybe history will survive and new life will find human history and learn from all our mistakes… or repeat them…
A Wild Mind Is a Nightmare That I Can't Comprehend, Colored Pencil on Paper, 26 x 19in, 2023
But let me take you back to the hyperobject, what are they?
Hyperobjects are things, thoughts, ideas, God, spirituality, capitalism, agriculture, a black hole, a painting, climate change which Timothy Morton suggest we should call it global warming. I agree. Climate change has always existed, the climate changes with the seasons, it is global warming which narrows things a little, yet we can’t completely understand it. Hyperobjects are things we cannot hold, they are living with us, sleeping at night with you and you cannot see them. They are giant in theory or in reality, but they are so bast we cannot comprehend them, we cannot point at it and say, that is the cause. Which is why global warming is difficult to grab, there is so many things causing it, we cannot control it, we have lost control, and it will probably exist, glued to our bodies for the rest of human existence. Every sweat is a reminder of how powerful global warming is and how close we are to our extinction…jk.
Captivated by the Thoughts of Nature, Colored Pencil on Paper, 26 x 19in, 2023
Why did the chicken crossed the street?
All my life I been sharing this joke, why did the chicken crossed the street? A friend once said because the traffic light turned green, but she said it in Spanish which I think is better “porque el semáforo se puso en verde.” You can creatively come up with a response, because it could not fly, or because your mom wanted to kill it. And now we wonder, why? why would the chicken cross, what came first the chicken or the egg? Or what about the Black Hole? What is it, how does it work, have we ever seen one? Will we see or experience a black hole in our lives? I do not know, you can ask your dad… But what I do know is that these ideas captivate us, they hunt us and make us wonder, taking us away from the present moment, from what matters. There is good and bad hyperobjects. Deforestation, Pandemics, The internet. Music, Love, The Moon. Sometimes I like to imagine snow as a big white blanket that captures us, kipping us inside of our homes, pushing us to interact with our friends, and family, feeding our creativity to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.. I used to eat two of those in the morning and two at night during my undergraduate. Don’t worry I do regret it, but it captivates me:)
Hyperobjects exist because of us and will exist after us, they exist in our minds, captivating us, guiding us, nature might always exist, art might always exist, but what about the now? Can the now exist forever, can we actually live it?
What I want you to take from this story is to choose your hyperobjects wisely, and daily. There is people wanting us to focus on the things which do not matter, and cause more damage than good. Use your hyperobjects to share goodness, to love, to inspire, let them push you to innovate. The next time you are sitting or laying in your bed, think about how your furniture, your bed for example, was waiting for you to come home and give it meaning. That’s how powerful and strange hyperobjects are. That is how powerful our mind is. Let your hyperobjects make you think outside of your ordinary perspective, and realize there are better things out there for you to think about. Maybe not the furniture one, but do not refuse yourself to see them, to see a new truth, adding and healing our collective imagination. Hyperobjects are everywhere, and they want to dance with you, while global warming continues to create spectacles with wildfires. (See artwork at the end)
Have a good day, and sleep well tonight:)
With Love,
-Saul
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Don’t Worry We Got Art, Colored pencil on paper, 26 x 19 in, 2022
