Humans engage in conflict, individuals comprise armies and human science creates weapons. The human mind once conflicted by politics and emotion reacts with the instinct to survive, to dominate and prevail. The mind controls the actions of the body as a means of self-preservation. The flesh and bone become the manifestation of the human psyche. Without the mind, the body is merely architecture, form that cannot function.
The human skeleton is a powerful visual symbol. It’s come to represent the “remains”, what’s left after life has ended, after the flesh and mind cease to function. In my photographs, I use the human skeleton as the formal visual element, the subject of the image. In this manner, the skeleton is both the protagonist and antagonist (the Buddhist notion about, “the duality of man” seems apt).
For each photograph I disassemble the modular system of the skeleton and reconfigure the elements to form a new image. These images are man made. Images of aggression, images that cause suffering, devastation and conflict. Images and symbols that suggest an aftermath, and therefore function was a warning. If the images can provide a cautionary moment of pause as our mind recognizes their history and significance, it is my hope that these images will resonate long after viewing. I intend the images to plant the notion of restraint and charity in an effort to promote peace and
tolerance. Put simply, to make the aftermath irrelevant, an anomaly for future generations.
Tom Cvikota