Assimilation Print - Limited Edition of 100

When it comes to the progress of civilization, “achieving perfection” would probably be on top of the list. Lots of social projects exist where people have been experimenting with utopian ideas to create a perfect community. There are socialist, capitalist, monarchical, democratic, anarchist, ecological, feminist, patriarchal, egalitarian, hierarchical, racist, left-wing, right-wing, reformist, free love, nuclear family, extended family, gay, lesbian and many more utopias [ Naturism, Nude Christians, …] Utopianism, some argue, is essential for the improvement of the human condition. But if used wrongly, it becomes dangerous. Utopia has an inherent contradictory nature here. After assimilation by The Borg, a drone’s race and gender become “irrelevant”. Does that ring a bell with someone? The strange thing is most liberal thinking people also promote cultural diversity, but simultaneously want to reject from these cultures all aspects that conflict with race or gender equality. These issues lay at the foundation of the painting “Assimilation” (acrylic on canvas 30′ x 30′). At the center of the painting you find a cube, which is my version of The Borg, a metaphysical mechanism that assimilates the different cultures towards “perfection”. This cube is surrounded by a circle dominated by Lord Yama, the Hindu god of Death and Justice, the ultimate assimilator. The next ring represents the wheel of change that symbolizes the circular and multicultural aspect of the civilization process. At the fringes of the painting I’ve depicted some aspects of the current evolution of civilization. I´ve also used the metaphor of the cyclotron to put forward how technology is one of the driving forces of assimilation, together with the spreading of the fast food concept and the expansion of the internet.