Size 185 x 185 cm
Human self-esteem was at its lowest point during the Middle Ages. The degrading Christian outlook on the human condition left little hope for ever finding salvation in the earthly kingdom. St Augustine infused a strong element of platonic thought into Christianity by making the pagan road to happiness through reflection an essential part of the priestly dogma. He also reaffirmed the hope in reaching paradise after death giving Christian pain a real purpose. Thomas Aquinas gave the dismal Christian outlook on life a slight lift by suggesting that people played a small role in reaching happiness through reflection, thus making heaven a little closer, right here on earth. It was, however, a path only open to those fortunate ones with the means to do so, the unfortunate ones toiled and suffered under feudal and religious law. After all the hopes and promises of paradise in an afterlife, Christianity seemed to deny in this life the very pleasures it promised in the next.
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