Agonisms

Gallery West, Arlington, Texas, 2020

Agonisms was a reaction to the ever-increasing polarization through political tribalism and the resulting deterioration of respect for “the other '' within American Society. Without the respect of the other, this polarization spirals into antagonistic conflict, a war of winners and losers. Society, especially Western democratic society as a collective whole, loses. Democratic society thrives through respectful conflict, with the understanding that each opponent’s intentions are to reach a greater good through consensus. This is the basis for the political theory of agonistic pluralism as theorized by Belgian post-Marxist philosopher Chantal Mouffe.

This work was a means to counterpoise the imprudent false notion of mutually exclusive dichotomous thought propagandized by opposing stakeholders. Through cathartic object fabrication and its installation, I’ve tried to create visual and experiential metaphors of pluralistic consensus, culminating in the Gallery West installation called Agonisms. It’s important to recognize while the act of consensus is altruistic, it can yield unintended results that could possibly be consequential towards either party or both together. This installation utilizes many contrasting elements: Industrial Process and the Artist’s Hand, Black & White, Red & Blue, X & O, etc.

Installation Views

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