Matinee At The Circus : The Outsider Drawing

This is one of a series of works I have made about the spectacle of the circus, and how it acted (and to some degree still acts) as a focus for social catharsis. This common catharsis leads to a greater sense of social cohesion - a fact well understood by Roman emperors ("bread and circuses"). However, in this work I have included the concept of the outsider. Whilst the shared experience of the crowd tends towards greater togetherness (in Roman times this would have been used by the authorities to release both societal blood-lust and anger, and to create togetherness against a common enemy: the barbarians), there are those present who "stand apart" from the crowd. Firstly there is the shadow of the figure apparently lying on the canvas of the tent - literally outside of both the crowd and the entertainment. Secondly, within the crowd, there is an image of Adolf Hitler - perhaps the most dangerous and notorious of outsiders within the last century, and one who understood the full potential power of social catharsis, and who used it to catastrophic ends. My interest in this function and experience of the circus is just that - the enjoyment, the schadenfreude, and the shared experience have a dark underbelly - one which we must be careful to understand in its potential for devastating misuse.

Drawing:Ink on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:15 W x 11.1 H x 0.8 D in

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