There is death in the pot

Josua Strümpfer

In most cultures, the human skull represents one thing: Death. However, the skull is symbolic of more than just death. It is the material evidence of a life lived from beginning to end, from start to finish. A human life has been, and the skull is proof of that. The skull is a symbol of the proverbial seat of consciousness, now mute to reveal the thoughts and intentions it once contained.

I want the viewer to contemplate the anthropocentric nature of the skull as a deeply personal object. It is central to our humanity and mortality, containing all the wonderful, fragile, beautiful, but also evil, capacities of man. Often we talk symbolically of the heart as the origin of our thoughts and emotions, but truly, the skull is the container of our thoughts- the starting point of all actions, good or bad.

Why is it that some people have a greater capacity for evil than others do? Why is it that some minds are poised to descend into reckless hatred and destructive selfishness? Despite the advances we have made as a race, we still have difficulty in discerning the thoughts and intentions of others around us. I propose that it is our humanity, the skull within us.

Although one would like to distance one's self from this darkness, I realize one cannot escape one’s humanity, nor can one deny the death in humanity's pot.

We all have a skull. Contemplating this, one experiences something of the mysteriousness of our human condition.