Mr Damocles

Mr Damocles

Millions of years of evolutionary history have made us humans what we are today. And vice versa: it has taken only a few hundred years for humans to shape the Earth in such a way that we now face complex ecological challenges. The irretrievable destruction of the world as we know it is no longer an unrealistic dystopia, but in some areas, such as the exploitation of fossil fuels, it is already a sad reality.

The work “Mr Damokles” raises the question of how much nature is still left in cultivated humans. And how it is that we seem to have lost one of our most important qualities: a sense of natural balance in our dealings with the environment.

The work consists of a life-size male torso covered by a white shirt. The shirt is complemented by a black tie, the lower half of which is covered in hair. The white shirt and tie – an absurd garment with no practical function – are the uniform of the modern man who seeks to radiate competence and influence. At the same time, this claim to sophistication stands in stark contrast to human behaviours such as aggression, fear and sexual desire. Modern humans have partially shed the body hair that once protected them from the cold. The remaining hair is treated to the point of absurdity: depending on the part of the body, we shave, wax, style or transplant it.

As the neck of “Mr Damocles”, a naturally grown tree trunk protrudes from the collar, an allegory of our original connection to nature. This trunk is abruptly cut off where the head should actually be. We have feasted too long at Dionysus‘ richly laid table; the sword has fallen.