EXHIBITION AT CLARKE UNIVERSITY 2019

In Its' Natural State

In Its’ Natural State

Adinah Hopkins

Violence, from my perspective, is heavily prevalent in media whether it is real or not.  I was curious to know if constant visuals of people hurting one another motivate others to commit violent acts. Violence is normalized because media reinforces humanity’s predisposition to be violent.

Violence can be triggered by traumatic events in a situation. From that, the body will be put into fight or flight mode. ‘Fight or flight’ is a survival tactic which is common in most animals, including humans. Psychologist Albert Bandura, creator of the social learning theory states, “violence can be influenced by observational learning, which is a “method of learning that consists of observing and modeling another individual’s behavior, attitudes, or emotional expressions, commonly believed that the observer will copy the model”. For example, a child watches their parent, most likely a person they have grown to trust, smoking cigarettes, and the child notices the satisfaction their parent receives. Then that child would observe the repeated action, retain the constant activity, and be motivated by the action while producing an action that would be same or like that action. When a person watches another receiving attention or reward from committing a violent act for a similar belief then it is likely they will mimic that action.

Throughout history, large scale paintings were a source of visual discussion on social and political issues, such as war. Within informing the masses on those depictions of violence, the paintings would be romanticized as to be visually appealing, like a modern-day television broadcast.  With this observation, I wanted to imitate the grandeur of violent acts shown in media. The large scale also aides as makes the viewer feel like they are watching television, thus the black matte board encapsulating the work. The smaller works mimic the intimacy of a hand-held device, as most of the population own a smartphone to receive news through social media platforms. The nude in the history of western art is respected as a figure of idealism for humanity. To juxtapose the ideology of idealism, the figures are shown naked as to heighten the unprotected and vulnerable tone that surviving in nature induces. Subjects are stained with blood, clawing and biting at each other, howling in agony, and showing vacant, emotionless expressions. These acts of aggression will be in developed areas, exaggerating humanity’s return to the primitive state of reasoning, even though society claims to be developed and structured.

 My intent is not to condemn humanity to be primeval beings with no control over their actions, but as an exaggerated perspective to how people choose to fight over flight when dealing with child abuse, police brutality, domestic violence, and gun violence.  My intention for these drawings to make the viewer question whether stigma, irrational beliefs, false information, or stereotypes dictate their actions.

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