The End Is Nigh aims to bespeak of the inexorable and rapidly accelerating climatic catastrophe that could prevail over all life, analogus to the prophesies contained within the Book of Revelation.

 

This piece presents: a ready made and fabricated garden statue of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity, and patron saint of animals and the environment. Upon his head is situated, [ where the religious iconographic art tradition would perhaps place a halo ] a small LED sign with The End Is Nigh emblazoned in garish red.

 

The title of this work refers to the once common sight of an almost folkloric "street preacher" proselytising passages, quotations and scripture from the Book of Revelation. These oft fanatical and frequently derided individuals would appear entranced and in a kind of religious fervour, at times with the use of megaphones [ and their familiar resonant din ] an admonition that the end of the world was nigh, and that we must be compelled to atone for our sins and prepare for the Second Coming of Christ. As part of their visual repertoire was the sandwich-board placard, proclaiming: "the end is nigh", with several equally doom-laden equivalents.

 

This, perhaps "tacky" [ part of our seemingly modern obsession of reductive materialism ] figure of St. Francis is for us to conceptualise what a revered medieval saint would consider of our inauspicious predicament. We could speculate that he would feel incredulity, shame and anguish over our recklessness, our moral and deferential decline and our lack of resolve when confronted with such an overwhelming predicament. By placing him in the theoretical role of the "street preacher", with the same proclamations and messages of redemption, would he be similarly derided, scorned and seen as just another fundamentalist crackpot?

 

However, his representation is one of serenity and oneness with nature, motionless and in silent contemplation, a non-judgemental model for rational and empathetic human behaviour.

 

Yet our's is a world destitute of vision. Veiled by the insidiously corrupt [ but godlike in power ] who, in perpetuity and sceptical of statistics or scientific evidence [ re. confirmation bias ], continue to propagate "fake news" to avail them of their collective responsibilities. Their arrogant denials and failure-to-act or consider interventional measures, impacts our ability to mitigate the course of climactic disaster.

 

“Men argue. Nature acts.”

- Voltaire

 

We, as one, must act with sustained resolve and altruism, rejecting any notion of a "great redeemer" [ to absolve us of our guilt ]. As we face the metaphorical precipice, we must counter our faulty thought patterns, trapping ourselves in "all or nothing" thinking. Where there is no grey area or flexibility, as it inevitably encourages rigidity and not resilience.

 

                                                                      "In all things, it is better to hope than to despair"

                                                                      - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe