Art Exhibition by three roosters of Intra-Chromatic: Tatum Maya, Jonas Liveröd and Tobias Bradford

An integral aspect of history has been the collective inauguration of understanding ourselves (both individually and as a whole) and “what it is to be human.” The question of “what it is to be human”  changes during each era, based on what we have previously learned (or unlearned), and also social, political, technological and economical conditions of the time.

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Right now, it is quite apparent how this question is perceived. We are no longer hunter-gatherer, war-hardened warriors preparing for battle (perhaps not in essence, but literally), given how our histories have behaviourally civilised us in congruence with technological advancement and material mastery, but we have also begun to lose touch with our basic humanity in ways previous generations never did, and have subsequently regressed in many respects, despite our advancements in other areas.

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“Revenge of the Uncanny” by Jonas Liveröd and Tobias Bradford indirectly observes the aforementioned observations in its unabashedly provocative approach to the human form and its relationship with other phenomena. Even though the exhibition itself can be seen from innumerable perspectives, with no two interpretations or individual experiences being entirely alike, it is clear that the environments created create experiences that incorporate elements of the beautiful, the grotesque, the divine, the absurd, the human and the non-human, life and non-life.

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The aforementioned aspects are integral to the human experience in its totality, encapsulating the entire spectrum of the human experience - the spectrum between good and evil - the difference between “human” and “humanity.” Anyone of sound mind would agree that we ultimately all want good ultimately, but then again, another pressing query of our time corresponds to what we mean by “good.” We sometimes confuse “nice” with “good,” in as much as we confuse “tough love (brutal honesty)” with “cruelty.” Being “nice” is simple enough, be polite, friendly and behaviourally civilised, but being “good” in an altruistic sense, is not quite so easy, as it requires unconditional servitude, selflessness, wisdom, responsibility and perhaps most importantly, “self-awareness.”

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Without self-awareness, we will continue to behave in unconscious ways to our own detriment. Furthermore, we cannot enhance self-awareness without looking into ourselves. Tatum Maya’s “Journey into the Self” exhibition provides the perfect contrast to “Revenge of the Uncanny,” in that its explorations of sacred symbology and geometry, nature, the beauty of the human form, and the interconnectedness of body, mind and soul, perhaps reflect a transcendence of the human experience, epitomising an elevation from lower forms of consciousness and existence.