Size 185 x 185 cm
Despite human capacity to understand its own nature and to harness science’s godlike powers, modern day humans do not feel happy in their godlike shoes. In a noble yet obstinate attempt to press on in our ancient quest we have begun to tamper with our genetic constitution. The horrors of World War I and II converted talks of happiness into an absurd practice and no other literary characters captured the dodgy pursuit of happiness in the nuclear age as well as Vladimir and Estragon. Beckett’s characters personify the difficulty with which we sustain hope of ever finding happiness in an age when all hope seems to be gone and the only thing left is the ghost of doubt. Science in the end has confirmed that restlessness is indeed a part of human nature and human resilience is such that unless the grief or pain is overwhelming humans will carry on, we can even produce beauty from horror as Primo Levi attests to. Science has done many things to improve the quality of human life, and all the progress of the last ten thousand years hasn’t brought us any closer to finding out what makes humans happy. They can show however that our increasing obsession with happiness is causing a rise in depressive disorders. Grappling with the trials and tribulations of our pursuit seems so difficult that philosophers have mostly seeded the task of figuring out how to live well to psychologists, advertising firms, and the wellness industry.
Humans spend a considerable part of their existence in the world of ideas. Transmitting and receiving memes is the most important drive behind every human action. The concept of happiness is the most enduring idea that ever was, is and maybe for the woe of humans, ever will be. Eudaimonia is an X-Ray of the western psyche, it is also a study about the most obscure search western civilization has ever embarked on, the search for happiness, a concept created and propagated by western civilization. Beginning with the Greek thinkers western civilization has dedicated a fair amount of its efforts to a quest which cannot be quantified and, in many instances, has never actually been realized. Despite the incomplete and insubstantial evidence about its existence and all the accumulated evidence to make us weary of the quest, still we persist blindly and deliberately on trying to find a road to that ever-elusive Shangri la.
Sculptures are instruments used to transmit the morals and ideals of a culture. Sculptures based on the living form are made according to the understanding of the world of a certain culture, and the highlighted features tell a lot about a people’s outlook on their reality. In toys we find the same mechanisms operating for the young mind, the cultural heritage of a people is summed up, so a child can comprehend it. Eudaimonia is an illustration of the western search for happiness employing its own iconography.
Socrates set off a race that would drive many a man to ruin. We have dressed it up and dressed it down, swiped cloaks with each passing intellectual fashion and still the search for happiness has been a constant among the many endeavors of the western mind. A drive so strong it can unleash war and famine, enslave thousands, and subdue nations in the strive to become, unleashing chaos and misery in its wake, and yet our unbridled faith in its promise is steadfast and true. Happiness may be the ultimate end of civilization, and the search people undertake to find it can make them miserable.
Western striving needs reevaluating, we have been searching for something that thwarts us since the beginning of our civilization. The discontent that came along with the bargain of civilization is something humans have been grappling with since Jericho and something with which humanity has not been able to come to terms with yet. It is time to confront the fact that pain and suffering is an intrinsic part of life, and that perfect happiness is a quixotic dream. If you compare our current lot to that of those who started us on this wild goose chase, it is easy to see that things are immensely better in many ways. What we really need is to reexamine the pursuit and this obscure object of our desire.
This series was inspired by the book "The Pursuit of Happiness" by Darrin McMahon
Despite human capacity to understand its own nature and to harness science’s godlike powers, modern day humans do not feel happy in their godlike shoes. In a noble yet obstinate attempt to press on in our ancient quest we have begun to tamper with our genetic constitution. The horrors of World War I and II converted talks of happiness into an absurd practice and no other literary characters captured the dodgy pursuit of happiness in the nuclear age as well as Vladimir and Estragon. Beckett’s characters personify the difficulty with which we sustain hope of ever finding happiness in an age when all hope seems to be gone and the only thing left is the ghost of doubt. Science in the end has confirmed that restlessness is indeed a part of human nature and human resilience is such that unless the grief or pain is overwhelming humans will carry on, we can even produce beauty from horror as Primo Levi attests to. Science has done many things to improve the quality of human life, and all the progress of the last ten thousand years hasn’t brought us any closer to finding out what makes humans happy. They can show however that our increasing obsession with happiness is causing a rise in depressive disorders. Grappling with the trials and tribulations of our pursuit seems so difficult that philosophers have mostly seeded the task of figuring out how to live well to psychologists, advertising firms, and the wellness industry.
Humans spend a considerable part of their existence in the world of ideas. Transmitting and receiving memes is the most important drive behind every human action. The concept of happiness is the most enduring idea that ever was, is and maybe for the woe of humans, ever will be. Eudaimonia is an X-Ray of the western psyche, it is also a study about the most obscure search western civilization has ever embarked on, the search for happiness, a concept created and propagated by western civilization. Beginning with the Greek thinkers western civilization has dedicated a fair amount of its efforts to a quest which cannot be quantified and, in many instances, has never actually been realized. Despite the incomplete and insubstantial evidence about its existence and all the accumulated evidence to make us weary of the quest, still we persist blindly and deliberately on trying to find a road to that ever-elusive Shangri la.
Sculptures are instruments used to transmit the morals and ideals of a culture. Sculptures based on the living form are made according to the understanding of the world of a certain culture, and the highlighted features tell a lot about a people’s outlook on their reality. In toys we find the same mechanisms operating for the young mind, the cultural heritage of a people is summed up, so a child can comprehend it. Eudaimonia is an illustration of the western search for happiness employing its own iconography.
Socrates set off a race that would drive many a man to ruin. We have dressed it up and dressed it down, swiped cloaks with each passing intellectual fashion and still the search for happiness has been a constant among the many endeavors of the western mind. A drive so strong it can unleash war and famine, enslave thousands, and subdue nations in the strive to become, unleashing chaos and misery in its wake, and yet our unbridled faith in its promise is steadfast and true. Happiness may be the ultimate end of civilization, and the search people undertake to find it can make them miserable.
Western striving needs reevaluating, we have been searching for something that thwarts us since the beginning of our civilization. The discontent that came along with the bargain of civilization is something humans have been grappling with since Jericho and something with which humanity has not been able to come to terms with yet. It is time to confront the fact that pain and suffering is an intrinsic part of life, and that perfect happiness is a quixotic dream. If you compare our current lot to that of those who started us on this wild goose chase, it is easy to see that things are immensely better in many ways. What we really need is to reexamine the pursuit and this obscure object of our desire.
This series was inspired by the book "The Pursuit of Happiness" by Darrin McMahon
© Daniel Botelho
