Jul 6, 2012
13 dark pieces of satire to make you stop and think
Polish artist Paul Kuczynski will be as depressing as he needs to be to make sure you look at the world differently…
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WOW!
Eh, isn’t “white people = bad” kinda cliché for the art world these days?
Odd that you should say that. I only see one piece of the set that has a White person obviously behaving badly to non-whites. There is one more that shows a White couple blissfully unaware of poverty, but it does not indicate they are “bad”. Methinks thou protest overmuch. Did your conscience prick you?
Yowch. XD Nice
You mean my conscience as an artist who winces when he sees tired clichés? ;)
Or are you assuming I’m white?
Condescending winks are cliché Mr. “artist” ;)
See how I also added some cliché quotation marks? Wince on AStev.
pretty sure you are white.
the only thing cliche i see here is the over used term ” tired cliches”.
Its only used to avoid an explanation.
A condescending artist. Talk about tired clichés…
I agree, I think it’s just first instinct to take it as “white people = bad” but if you look at the pictures none of them are really even saying that. The only one that is, is the fist one and it’s using kids to make the juxtaposition even more apparent.
Why are whit ppl bad in the first one, when clearly its “coloured” one who are terrible window washers…
its not about good, bad or cliché, it is about how the world is, you will stop speaking the truth because it is cliché? 21,000 children die everyday of poverty, but sorry i shouldnt mention this, this is sooo 2005
@gawd knows
Too bad it’s not more, maybe when we overgrow our planet people who cry “Omg, thousands of people died! SO SAD!” will realize that fat, sickly, and stupid people have no place in our world. All they do is take up resources that should be allocated to those who are PRODUCTIVE members of society.
“PRODUCTIVE”?! You have embodied the cruel dead puppet nature of a sick story of a lost society. As if money, power, industry, and so called “moving forward” are more important than the lives, conciseness, and love of those you would have thrown away so that you can look in the mirror at your pride of your “productivity” when the only thing that separates you from them is luck of the draw of where you were born. Humans sole purpose on this world is to share life and love. This is productivity in a society. Not wasting humanity away in fear of losing things that are all parts of an infinite circle. Yet even still it is not the dead we should pity but those left behind to suffer, the dead have moved on to their next forms of consciousness while their loved ones face their own loss and continuation of poverty. But this sick elitism of yours is what turns humans against each other. Be it elitism of race, sex, religion, or so called “productivity” it is all the same horrid perspective that should be washed from all society.
the 1st one isn’t saying that white people are bad… it’s showing how children from 2 different cultures see the same object differently. The white kid is playing with his large toy car, but the two non-white kids go to clean it because they don’t understand that it is a toy since they wander the city streets cleaning car windows to make money for themselves/their families.
um,they realize it is a toy car. the rich kid plays at driving a car around, the poor kids play at earning money. The rich kid reacts the way his parents do.
The one that show the white man relaxing in luxury upon a hammock made of a colored man’s chains maybe?
I saw a rich man hanging in a hammock of a working man’s hands. I guess it is all in the perspective…
Very well said you have to think beyond the color and look at the message.
Its funny that you decided to use capitals for ‘White person’ and not for ‘non-whites’.
um, i thought all of them were about the evils of white people. idk. a couple were ambiguous. the ladder one was pretty race-less. i don’t think you protest enough.
Spot on AStev… Spot on.
not if its still true
If these were made 2010-2012 then i would agree with you, because this is when I have started to notice some pretty cleché pieces, but these are dated 2007-2009. I understand that it is a pretty small difference in time but they are still interestingly unique.
Yeah seems a bit racist. There are plenty of businessmen, corrupt politicians, tourists, consumers and alcoholics who are not white. Kuczinski’s work does a good job at juxtaposing the contrasting livelihoods surrounding the various subjects, though.
I think you just missed the whole point.
The message isn’t that white people are bad; but that rich people are.
Whats wrong with being rich? I’m rich and I have worked hard for it.
Your point? Plenty of people work hard but do not become rich. Working hard does not constitute the feeling of being better than others. Some people are in situations where working hard simply isn’t enough to make their lives much better. Not that I believe all rich people think they are better than others, but living a luxurious life with many un-needed pleasures while others suffer and die from poverty is very selfish no matter how you look at it.
Rich people don’t hang out on the internet, commenting about how rich they are. I’m pretty sure you don’t know what true wealth is.
um… not sure that was the point exactly….
Is that what you got from these pieces? “white people = bad?”
Who was it that said “art is a mirror?”
Either way, perhaps you saw yourself in these ink-blots.
Or maybe you didn’t see ENOUGH of yourself.
Does your “art” impress people and move them the way these pieces (obviously) have?
Or does it satisfy only yourself? Yeah… you’re probably that kind of “artist”… talk about pretentious. lol
It’s not a race thing, it’s a corporation thing.
Let’s see… Rich white kid with Porsche, barefoot colored kids: Rich white industrialist handcuffing the worker: Rich white kid with shoes and train looking at poor kid (maybe Asian) without shoes pulling train: White people throwing rice while Asians pick it up probably to eat, because we all know they are starving: Goofy looking white guy sucking up works of art: Washington full of liars. Makes me think of just typical stereotypes,or the artist has a guilt complex.
I agree, the “pale people are uniquely evil” theme has been overdone, but many of these images are really powerful. I was especially struck by the prisoner warming himself with the rungs of his ladder.
this was my favorite too.
and sth i always say but could never illustrate like this, is that “we” can relax ourselves because other people are treated badly (enslaved, doing health-wasting work…)
It’s not about relaxing or being enslaved. It’s about society and the unfortunate who have to use the tools and resources they could have used to succeed to survive and make ends meet.
what made you think he was a prisonor? Why would a prisonor have a ladder and a saw?????
Ladder seems to represent freedom, hence the person is imprisoned. “Prisoner of his own mind” or any other kind of prisoner. But instead of using the ladder to escape, the person preferred to warm himself in his prison.
I saw it as a socioeconomic prisoner. Having to use the tools to get by rather than to excel.
thinking exactly the same! Art is intended for a wide audience, no matter what reaction occurs.
I thought just the same, Marci! It definitely seemed to me as if he felt that he had to choose between comfort in the now vs. later.
I saw it more as: a person who gave up freedom for comfort, ultimately sacrificing his chance for freedom.
What if he didn’t understand the purpose of the ladder or the effect of climbing over the wall? He only sees wood and knows the purpose of that wood is to create heat. Computers and the internet are tools that can bring people to other places figuratively speaking. But give my parents a computer and they wouldn’t know what to do with it, probably couldn’t even start it. My Mom simply uses the computer they have as a clock. Their computer is their ladder.
Ignorance is bliss. I bought you a book and you ate the pages out of it.
I saw it differently. no offense to anyone else but I personally think this is what he was portraying. It’s like in society when instead of permanently fixing a problem (walking up the ladder and leaving), a lot of times we just solve the short term immediate problem, ultimately screwing us over later, because we waited to long and used all our resources (the steps on the ladder) or increased our debt. This could relate to our economy, starving countries, or other things I haven’t even though about.
I think everyone who looks at it sees it differently. And that is why it is art.
Interesting… I saw no prisoner.. just an everyday person whose struggle to escape and aspire – whether it be poverty, work, skills – is consumed by the need to survive or stay in comfort
Well, what is the poor kitty s’posed ta eat? Mice? She is not a vegetarian.
Aye. But the kitteh is not holding the knife nor wearing the blood-stained apron and muck boots. It is he (she?) who is doting on the kitteh and wielding those symbols of ultimate authority. Yet, the kitteh seems to take pleasure in waiting patiently on said butcherjudge instead of pouncing on the chicks et al.
I believe he is trying to convey that we have some animals that are pets while some we eat…
I agree with Chris, below, it is the ridiculousness of our culture to pet a cat and be appalled that some cultures eat what we consider a ‘pet’ while butchering and using other animals as expendable products. Often for the cat itself. Not saying we should eat cats – just don’t be appalled other cultures do.
The cat one only works if you don’t hate cats.
Exactly!
Living in Florida, I like the one with the camera as a vacuum destroying the beautiful landscape. We have to be careful with “the Garden.”
It is trying to say that tourism is a big factor in the destruction of beautiful landscape and monument areas.
I am unclear as to the bottle and the fish hooks meaning. If someone would care to explain I would much appreciate. Deep works of art none the less.
It’s illustrating addiction. Alcohol getting it’s “hooks” into you.
Drink like a fish?
i think just imagining it physically makes it interesting. That the hook gets closer to your mouth as you finish the drink and it only reaches you when youre done. I found it interesting how the hook cant reach your mouth on its own but that you are basically forcing it to and doing it by yourself.
The bottle and the fish hooks symbolizes alcoholism. Habitual consumption of alcohol can get you “Hooked”, so to speak.
There’s no wrong or right when it comes to analyzing something another person has created. You can say what it means to you or, if you must, what you THINK it means to the creator. No one knows what the person making the art or writing the book meant to say or show. Thinking like this is probably why I had a hard time at school. I used to know a relatively successful songwriter who said that he didn’t mind when people tried to figure out what he was trying to say, but they were usually reading much more into what he wrote than he meant. I guess people want to try to show how smart they are.
Unless of course the author actually says what he/she intends it to mean…
I don’t understand the Washington Monument picture, but I think another body part might have been more appropriate. :)
Oh wait I get it, pinoccio (doy!)
It could also symbolize that a lot of politicians are merely puppets and they don’t express what they actually want.
LOL… Stop concerning about the color of the people… its the politics and the actions is what needs to be noticed in this art not the people
Exactly!I wish the artist of the first illustration could read your comment.
White people are bad.
I do not understand the message behind 3, 4, 7, 10 and 12. Anyone care to offer some insight?
Wow great pic
mind blowing!
great! lovely
1: illustrates that all habits good or bad rich or poor start early in life
2: illustrates that the fat cat aka rich never work for their food
3: illustrates that some people have their noses stuck too far into books aka peoples business to see the real message displayed
4: illustrates that the chinese may as well be santa clause because they make everything anyway
5: obviously about addictions particularly alcohol in this painting
6: illustrating that very few people try to fix the disease of factory pollution
7: illustrates that the poor are slaves to the rich
8: illustrates that some people would rather make a fire in the cold dark world rather than just climb out into the sun
9: illustrates that america is too big of a liar to earn the right to be a real country
10 illustrates that the well off dont realize that the poor work hard and arent happy
11: illustrating that beautiful places are being destroyed by tourists wanting a picture
12: illustrating someone planning to kill their master so they can be free
13: illustrates that while well off people use rice for weddings the poor are picking it up so they can eat
my opinion on what each painting means. i think that most of them are about america and china’s relationship
To me they are a little bit different (which is the exact reason I absolutely love art). My interpretations are the following:
1. Illustrates “Time vs. Compassion”. Those of higher status believe their time is worth more than the compassion for others
2. Illustrates “Conditional love”. The cat is superior, of all other animals, to the butcher only by the pleasure that it provides to the butcher.
3. Illustrates Education is force-fed.
4. Illustrates Ignorance and debt. We owe, and yet, we send our jobs to the same countries we’re in debt too- of which consumers buy from.
5. Illustrates the danger of addiction. You might not get hooked the first time, but you are doomed to eventually.
6. Again, illustrates ignorance (Out of sight, out of mind). We let pretty pictures and lies cover up the dangers behind such (ie: pollution).
7. Illustrates Arrogance and greed. We’re chained by our need of finer things.
8. Illustrates Apathy. Without the ambition to climb, we feel comfortable in our existence. Yet, it also displays how much we strive to feel like we’re not apathetic (there are still rungs on the ladder).
9. Being American, to me, it illustrates that Washington is a beautiful background of huge coverups and lies. We only see what they want us to see. (Though, I believe we’d most definitely earned our right to be a real country, lol)
10. Illustrates poverty vs. riches. The rich can afford to play, while the poor cannot.
11. Illustrates the lack of respect for “awe-inspiring”. We must document and take pictures of things that should be left alone and mysterious. We take those places or things for granted with the ability to document them- leading to abusing them.
12. Illustrates that the “poor” or “citizens” are ignorant to their actual power. They have the ability to cut off the head of the king/queen…yet they still choose to be treated like slaves. I find this especially true in America. Our government does not rule us, we rule our government (yet, so many forget this).
13. Illustrates the ignorance/apathy of the rich/or well-off. We don’t realize the trouble, blood, sweat, and tears that is put into picking the rice we so carelessly throw for celebration.
So, those are my first impressions/interpretations. Like I said, this is why I love art- at its finest it is open for all sorts of interpretations! And, the more you look at a piece of work, the more the interpretation will evolve! :)
very perceptive interpretations Chevll, nailed it on number 8
I believe #8 is saying the man could get ahead if he didn’t have to use the tools to get out of his situation as survival tools instead. He could climb over the wall, but in order to make it through the night, he has to use the rungs to warm himself to survive.
#4 reminded me of Christmas–but instead of Santa Claus dropping presents through the chimneys, it’s the workers- who are depicted as Chinese by the flag…
Really the undermining theme here is the evil, white, rich person making slaves of everyone (1,2,7,10,11,1213)
Sorry, I know that that’s not really a very good response, but that is essentially what this is.
@squid, I think #9 demonstrates that Washington is full of liars, not the idea that ALL of america lies all the time and doesn’t deserve to be a real country…
I would take that a step further and say that it doesn’t illustrate america itself as full of liars, but Washington (DC), as that is the Washington monument. Our politicians, certainly, could not tell the truth if they were administered truth serum.
nice art
This is my opinion on these pictures:
1: People learn racism, attitudes, etc. early in life and become the adults who do the same thing
2: Meat/food/pet is subjective
3: If you are in public school, you will learn what they want you to learn–whether it is true or not
4: By showing a Western tradition carried out by people from the East, it shows how we are losing our connection to our products
5: Dangers of alcoholism/bad habits
6: The tendency to cover up a problem instead of stopping it because it’s quicker
7: tendency for prisoner population to be predominantly minority, racism and the people who profit from it–also a reference to systemic racism and its similarity to slavery
8: Some people are never given the opportunity to climb the ladder because they need to focus on survival instead
9: The people in dc lie but hide it under patriotism/duty/etc.
10: The fortunate carry their troubles lightly while the troubles of the less fortunate weigh them down more and are harder to carry
11: Sometimes people act like if they document something enough and are able to keep it somewhere, the actual item/place itself is not as important, and if something happens to it it doesn’t matter because they have proof of it. Also, it is not as amazing because it becomes mass produced on calendars, etc.
12: Without the lower class who are exploited to keep everything running smoothly, the entire capitalist society would crumble and those at the top would be unable to continue their way of life.
13: The extravagance and waste of the West compared to the genuine need in other parts of the world
man you are absolutely correct to everything!
For your number 8 description:
The individual was able to climb the ladder before he/she cut off the steps. It was his/her decision not to climb the ladder that was presented to them in order to elevate. I relate it to “lazy America” (The people who have the tools and abilities to succeed but decide not too for comfort.)
*to
Proud to be a spoiled american!
My first impression of the wall and ladder image was also that it represented how the unprivileged don’t get the chance to climb up the ladder to success because they are more concerned with survival. But then I realized, that was once a fully functioning ladder, but he chose to cut the steps and stay in that dark place that looks like a prison. So maybe it’s more about people having a choice but choosing to stay in their own prisons. Reminds me what depression feels like.
The one with the animals is the reason I became a vegetarian.
Exactly the same reason here….
ok 4 is about how what makes us happy and blissful (christmas, consumerism, etc) is made on the backs of modern-day slaves. Take the iPhone factory worker suicides as example. Its NOT about debt, its about HUMANITY.
I found the work very interesting and emotionally captivating.
I especially like the piece with the man resting in the hammock suspended in the chained workers cuffed hands. I have to admit it squeezed a few sour grapes in me.
It’s a funny old world!
The one with the ladder really struck me.
I see it as illustrating people’s fear. To me the ladder is an opportunity. It’s the chance to stand up and climb into the light, but instead of taking that chance we are content to sit where we are, using the opportunity to do what society thinks is ‘right,’ forcing us to struggle to survive. We as a people (Americans in particular) seem to be afraid to break the mold and take chances. We’re too scared to climb the ladder and see what’s up there, so we burn the rungs to keep ourselves warm. We chase away the fear by destroying the ladder, and it ensures that we will never become what we could have been…
The first one also shows the rich choosing their luxury over compassion for the boys doing the cleaning. The one boy cleans while the other waits patiently for his opportunity to take over for whatever reason. While both of these boys need the work the boy who owns the car is signaling to stop cleaning the car thus limiting the potential for work and earning. So yes, the habits of people rich or poor, are learned early on
I mainly saw these as attempts to continue to enslave the rich white person in a continual stream of “white guilt”. Look people, Just because I’m white and I live in a nice subdivision doesn’t mean my dad goes out every day and regularly beats up poor Asian people for their money and make poor African people wash his car for free. He has worked his butt off and I say we deserve doubly to live where we live right now, and I am not ashamed to say that. So there!
Another thing about white guilt… get over the slavery in America already. getting mad at me cause I’m white and there were white people in the past (aka 200 years ago) who enslaved black people is a really stupid argument. I am white, yes, but I am also of slavic descent which means (surprise!) my ancestors were probably all slaves. So black people aren’t the only people who may have had ancestors who may have been enslaved by white landowners in the 1800s. So cut out with the stupid “racism” in america and focus on the 27 million people in slavery today.
https://www.freetheslaves.net/SSLPage.aspx?pid=348
Really awesome. Poignant stuff.
Favorites are the hook-bottle, the shackles-hammock, and the prisoner with the ladder.
Wow, hard to believe any of you can argue about the context of the images or how righteous they are when bottom line, the artist who made them bought his materials from a supplier whos materials are manufactured in china, or India, or mexico. On top of that he’s uploading it with a device he bought from a company out of china or Korea, and all you ditch-weeds are supporting the same ignorant economy. This work, and all of you are saying one thing and doing another. Doesn’t matter if his message is good when it’s made up of half lies.
the message you take from it you created for yourself. the picture has no caption; you added it there from your own preconceptions of what you saw.
Trite.
Being oblivious to the plight of those who make us comfortable — no matter what level of society we occupy — is something we need to change. Every person exists because someone else works, even the homeless! We are intrinsically linked, and need to be grateful in concrete ways for those who help make our lives better. No enslavement.
Thank you for making me to think more.
I’d have climbed over the wall, taken my ladder with me, and THEN burnt it… Didn’t really think that through did he?
Ugh….the pretension in these comments. How do you live with yourselves?
If you are referring to CONELRAD’s comment, I believe he is using “pretension” to describe previous commenters as trying to portray themselves as more intellectual than they really are, it is a pretense, as in, pretend. This has nothing to do with high blood pressure.