In this installation Buddha is being used as a metafoor. Buddha is a holy symbol for peace, fortune and nature. However, nowadays Buddha statues are sold everywhere, in every shape and material, cheap and expensive, small and big. The works initially refers to capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system in which there is a free market and in which citizen can have private property of the means of production. This concept is used in this work to show not only the economic side of capitalism but also the personal side. The personal side of capitalism is every individual life in which people unconsciously suffer the same pointless routine every day. What has happend to economical products through capitalism is similar to what happend to humanity because of capitalism. People are no longer unique and are now viewed as part of a whole.
This installation is about an unhappy Buddha. At first this may seem very weird. The contents of the installation is the complete opposite of the regular meaning of Buddha. Buddha is meant to be a beautiful and calming symbol, but rather, in this installation Buddha is unhappy and aggressive. Buddha has had enough of his life and considers the visitors as strangers who only want to hurt him. This because none of the visitors see him as a unique and religious symbol. His personality isn’t seen and he is nothing more than an average Buddha statue of which everyone has one in their living room. He is angry because he feels abandoned and abused. Feeling unsafe and fearing abandonment are all effects of the routine and robotic life we all live every single day.
Technical setup with a beamer, arduino sensor and 3D scan for videomapping.
