Sam Shalaby
Dusk
Here Lies The Truth, a personal visual representation of my long lost dream about the end of the world. Ive been trying to put this dream into one piece for years now and I think I finally accomplished this in my new tryptich.
At the top is a cross there are two bloody nails and no figure of christ, this represents how faith is only what you make it in yourself, no matter what the people or books tell you what to believe, any iconography, explanations, it only matters if you truly believe in whatever you believe in yourself, no matter what any one else does to destroy it. The grave of truth opens up into the angel with the scabbed wings. Purity being corrupted by the reality of the world and human nature. The inside then reveals itself, and truth begins to unravel.
If an artist can destroy your faith, then your faith is rather fragile - Marilyn Manson
My Dream starts with a realization of the world and what it truly is, accepting both the bad and the good parts about it. This realization is in a dive bar’s bathroom. The bar is full of neon lights and junkies. I look into the cheap reflecting blue on my face in the mirror while a protest enlarges outside as REM’S song “It's the End of the World as We Know It” plays softly. My reflection yearns for an end. I punch the mirror and pull out a piece of it. The strip of mirror caught my eyes as I knew what I was about to do next. I slit my wrists, feeling nothing. As I slowly start to lose consciousness and push through doped, coked, and dazed addicts, I walk out into the street. The street resembles a long lost gloomy Tahrir square filled with somber blue light and celebratory confetti. This is where all the worlds problems come together and are exposed, what we have all become, either shells of what was once a human, a clone, or a heretic, we are all joined in one place for one last time, and I ended it early for myself because I knew the truth. I walk into the street and look out at the main square and see a large demonstration. Security cameras and tv screens fill the square along with revolting protesters and fearless cops. The tv’s headlines are twisting what is actually happening, and the cops are beating people up for standing up for themselves and their basic human rights.
At the end of the world, Jesus christ is supposed to come down to Earth, but that higher power now is replaced and is taken advantage of by government and religion. Jesus was the first real rebel, and he was crucified for his spreading of love, light, and equality, which essentially is what his essence was about.His spirit is crucified. His spirit is replaced by the man in red, who represents government. The pope, representing religion as a whole, stands there as he takes money from the government and preaches his gospel. The people below them jump ecstatically waving their money in the air asking for help, putting all their trust in a higher power without second guessing it. They all yearn for any explanation for their lives, whether thats religion, or government, or anything that can make it easier for them not to deal with and analyze / explain it for themselves. Because its too scary to really face the truth, they take anything they can get. The government sneakily gives money to the pope as he carelessly throws sunflower seeds at his people, the people of the world. He treats them like animals. A smiley face defaces the american flag in cynicism and irony. It smirks at the world about how the people are being fooled and how they are being ignorant and blind to the truth by choice.
The transition from Twilight, the chaotic birth and interaction to the end of the world, to dawn, to an apocalyptic protest which brings forth all chaos and scary monsters , to dusk, the end, the acceptance, and the calm. The world sighs in relief as I go into the graveyard of what the world has lost, among love, humanity, sanity, intelligence, is me. My name, my empty grave. As I stand above my grave ready to leave this world and what it has become, I say a prayer, and I jump into it. The sky is clam, the moon smiles at me in cynicism, and the world is gone, here lies the truth.
My figure at the dusk stage is inspired by the tarot card 5 of cups. “The Five of Cups is a card that signifies difficulty, loss, and the challenges of dealing with that loss. The figure in the card wears a black cloak in which he hides his face in apparent despair.”
Dusk
Here Lies The Truth, a personal visual representation of my long lost dream about the end of the world. Ive been trying to put this dream into one piece for years now and I think I finally accomplished this in my new tryptich.
At the top is a cross there are two bloody nails and no figure of christ, this represents how faith is only what you make it in yourself, no matter what the people or books tell you what to believe, any iconography, explanations, it only matters if you truly believe in whatever you believe in yourself, no matter what any one else does to destroy it. The grave of truth opens up into the angel with the scabbed wings. Purity being corrupted by the reality of the world and human nature. The inside then reveals itself, and truth begins to unravel.
If an artist can destroy your faith, then your faith is rather fragile - Marilyn Manson
My Dream starts with a realization of the world and what it truly is, accepting both the bad and the good parts about it. This realization is in a dive bar’s bathroom. The bar is full of neon lights and junkies. I look into the cheap reflecting blue on my face in the mirror while a protest enlarges outside as REM’S song “It's the End of the World as We Know It” plays softly. My reflection yearns for an end. I punch the mirror and pull out a piece of it. The strip of mirror caught my eyes as I knew what I was about to do next. I slit my wrists, feeling nothing. As I slowly start to lose consciousness and push through doped, coked, and dazed addicts, I walk out into the street. The street resembles a long lost gloomy Tahrir square filled with somber blue light and celebratory confetti. This is where all the worlds problems come together and are exposed, what we have all become, either shells of what was once a human, a clone, or a heretic, we are all joined in one place for one last time, and I ended it early for myself because I knew the truth. I walk into the street and look out at the main square and see a large demonstration. Security cameras and tv screens fill the square along with revolting protesters and fearless cops. The tv’s headlines are twisting what is actually happening, and the cops are beating people up for standing up for themselves and their basic human rights.
At the end of the world, Jesus christ is supposed to come down to Earth, but that higher power now is replaced and is taken advantage of by government and religion. Jesus was the first real rebel, and he was crucified for his spreading of love, light, and equality, which essentially is what his essence was about.His spirit is crucified. His spirit is replaced by the man in red, who represents government. The pope, representing religion as a whole, stands there as he takes money from the government and preaches his gospel. The people below them jump ecstatically waving their money in the air asking for help, putting all their trust in a higher power without second guessing it. They all yearn for any explanation for their lives, whether thats religion, or government, or anything that can make it easier for them not to deal with and analyze / explain it for themselves. Because its too scary to really face the truth, they take anything they can get. The government sneakily gives money to the pope as he carelessly throws sunflower seeds at his people, the people of the world. He treats them like animals. A smiley face defaces the american flag in cynicism and irony. It smirks at the world about how the people are being fooled and how they are being ignorant and blind to the truth by choice.
The transition from Twilight, the chaotic birth and interaction to the end of the world, to dawn, to an apocalyptic protest which brings forth all chaos and scary monsters , to dusk, the end, the acceptance, and the calm. The world sighs in relief as I go into the graveyard of what the world has lost, among love, humanity, sanity, intelligence, is me. My name, my empty grave. As I stand above my grave ready to leave this world and what it has become, I say a prayer, and I jump into it. The sky is clam, the moon smiles at me in cynicism, and the world is gone, here lies the truth.
My figure at the dusk stage is inspired by the tarot card 5 of cups. “The Five of Cups is a card that signifies difficulty, loss, and the challenges of dealing with that loss. The figure in the card wears a black cloak in which he hides his face in apparent despair.”