CONFORM

There comes a point when you real­ize that sym­me­try has a calm­ing effect on you. Har­mo­ny and sym­me­try are relax­ing. When things are in order, per­cep­tion doesn’t need to look out for some­thing else. When we look out to the hori­zon at the sea, our eyes start search­ing. They search for ori­en­ta­tion. But when we look at some­thing with per­fect sym­me­try, that effect is not nec­es­sary. The brain seems to real­ize that every­thing here is in agree­ment. The senses don’t have to make an effort. And that is exact­ly what is so relax­ing. That’s why we per­ceive sooth­ing beauty in this form of sym­me­try. Which also leads us to start con­stant­ly putting things into order, into a cer­tain rela­tion to one anoth­er. On the sur­face, it isn’t about order itself, but about what it does to our senses. We con­stant­ly look for things we “need to put in order.” That seems learned. When things are “in order,” we receive recog­ni­tion, val­i­da­tion, and praise. Which pushes people toward con­for­mi­ty: don’t be dif­fer­ent, don’t stand out, don’t rub anyone the wrong way, don’t pro­trude. Fit. Adapt. Con­form. The art­work “Kon­form” high­lights the two qual­i­ties of sup­posed con­for­mi­ty: the calm­ing and the dis­ap­pear­ing. The har­mo­nious and the accom­mo­dat­ing. Some­thing so beau­ti­ful can be ter­ri­ble. Because things are often not just one-sided. Some­one who is quiet does not have noth­ing to say; per­haps they just find it too fool­ish. Some­one who laughs doesn’t have to be amused; per­haps they want to avoid a con­flict. Show­ing the two faces of the same thing was the idea behind the art­work “Kon­form.” The art­work “Kon­form” is avail­able online direct­ly from me via my art store. Simply fill out the online form or send me an email. I will then pre­pare a quote and pro­vide a pos­si­ble deliv­ery date.

Canon Fine-Art inkjet print on pre­mi­um Hah­nemüh­le Photo Rag 308 gsm paper. Art­work size freely selec­table: from at least 20 × 20 cm up to 120 × 120 cm. Mount­ed on 2 mm alu­minum Dibond with a white wooden shadow-gap frame. Pricing/quote on request, depend­ing on size and quantity.