insanity of consumption

by luke first

The final collage I created is on the third panel and is part of what I call the Result. This collage is a representation of the reaction to the realization of our own failures as a species. It is a reaction to realizing that we as humans are not special, and have wasted what we were given. The collage is put on top of a bird consuming a man and then excreting him into a hole. I built around this image by adding the painting Ship of Fools, a painting also by Bosch. The painting is a representation of Insanity. It depicts people trying to sail a ship on land while doing various ‘crazy’ things. I added different pieces of internet media like wojaks and a troll face, as well as a meme that represents overstimulation and overconsumption. Finally, I added the painting The Madhouse by Francisco Goya over the void that the men were originally being dropped into. Humanity’s narcissism has stemmed from the idea that we are smarter or more technologically advanced than other living things. In the past twenty years, we have moved further forward technologically than the first 150,000 years of humanity’s existence combined. In the past, when humanity reached a difficult time, we pushed through using technology alone. However, nowadays it seems that technology is the very thing that furthers our own destruction. In my composition, I wanted to show the insanity that we have created by surrounding ourselves with media and access to information. This is the punishment for our actions. Our consumption consumes us and leaves us in this state of insanity. It is a fitting punishment just as the punishments in the rest of the Bosch painting are.