This 8 by 10” pen and ink drawing represents the crass
commercialism and capitalist system we live in. Everyday, we
are bombarded with messages that aim at convincing us that
we need more…that we need to consume in order to be happy.
The more you need, the more you need to make. This
consumerist mentality causes people to scurry like rats in
attempts to satisfy all these illusory “needs”, thus creating this
“rat race” society we live in. It is a society based on the illusion
of fear…fear of no stability, fear of loss, fear of insecurity,
etc…Fear that you won’t “make it”…fear that you’re losing the
race. There is no end to this “race”…because the truth is,
there is no race!!! It’s an addictive cycle of needs that create
more needs and that separate us from each other by
convincing us that we need to compete to survive!!! Give in to
one need and you start a chain reaction of needs that spiral
into a pit of false identity and loss of oneness with your fellow
humans.
There are many symbols in this piece, such as rats riding a
cycle above a computer that contains human puppets..coffee
to represent awakening, a sleepy house to represent the
illusion of home as security, a grave representing the death of
our spirits. The left side is symbolic of these capitalist cycles
and the right contains symbols of exploration and awakening.
The entire piece is clad with symbols for addiction, because
this need based society is one big sprawling addiction to
material things. The key in the third eye is the road to serenity.
Know yourself, look deep inside, and get in tune with what it is
that truly makes you happy. Success is not necessarily what
you have, but what you can do without!
trademark of CYBEReTOWER™ LLC. All text and photographs above are copyrighted by
the artist, all rights reserved.
