“The Human Condition”
Anger, pride, competition, crime, economics, achievement, confusion, joy and disappointments – how much of who we are is predetermined by genetics, place of birth, family status and other factors?
What’s “Swimming in the Gene Pool” may be pre-determined yet tampering with the genetic code is probably not wise. Our human-ness with much curiosity, courage, willfulness and determination is faced with many decisions, choices, conflicts and fears. Accepting our human nature is not enough. We are of and in nature, yet somehow have moved away from that reality via our cleverness and innovations.
Re-embracing ourselves as part of nature may be our biggest challenge in the 21st century. Living within our means presents a human dilemma and a contradiction: “we must preserve our souls at the purest level while being continually aware that our souls are consoled by the material comforts on this Earth.”* That is the conundrum we face which might be best addressed by humility, conservation and a realization that we are subject to the rules of nature.
*paraphrased from Jose Saramango’s wonderful book “Baltasar and Dlimunda”
View “The Human Condition” Collection
“Man and Myth”
The search for meaning through art, music and literature offers us many stories and perceptions of human presence on Earth.
Milton’s Paradise Lost is a tale of heaven and human folly. Fallen angels and spiritual beings in all religions lead us to explore our human aspects, our human errors and perhaps how to mend them.
The Arthurian legend, bible and other religions’ stories, parables, songs, books and fairytales help us understand power struggles, relationships, hopes, dreams and obstacles. We can be encouraged by works of art to forgive and move forward. Our world needs us to recognize and correct our shortcomings and remedy our mistakes.
“Global Weirding”
The artist coined this term in 2007 for an art show that attempted to diffuse the controversy of climate change. Science had/has failed by a large degree to influence or instigate change. In fact it sometimes seems more effort is given to convince the public who’s right.
The climate debate has continued for three decades with not enough attention given to fund and implement a myriad of solutions. Arguments still rage over which energy source is least damaging while failing to implement the drastic conservation programs needed to mitigate the global temperature rise is tragic. The consequences of using precious time unwisely in debate and not in taking action with known and doable solutions are now becoming obvious in devastating flooding, drought, fires, wars, species loss and human displacement.
Sequestering carbon in the soil is one of many neglected solutions. How we reduce food waste, shift agriculture to sustainable and better practices, how we understand our reliance on forests and watersheds, and how we can work with nature to save ourselves and all beings isn’t rocket science. In our region there are dozens of groups creating and embracing legislation and solutions, but as controversy and self-interest continues nationally and globally, leadership at high levels and lack of resources may fail to address the root causes of global warming – rampant consumption and exploitation of resources by the few and gridlock on funding and lack of political will for change. It is up to the people to make the outcry for environmental and social justice. If you are interested in engaging in these efforts, a list of groups and projects is available.
View “Global Weirding” Collection
“Challenges”
The People are stymied and inaction on their part is largely bound by the extreme wealth and resource exploitation in the hands of too few. The “1%”, the corporations with their greed and power, and their control over our governments, laws and bureaucracies limit the judicious and wise treatment of all beings and the planet.
The rise of extreme technologies and human entitlement as illustrated by “mechanical bees”, G.M.O.s, and lust for continual entertainment, pleasure, escapism and cynicism have advanced the 6th Extinction. Fear, apathy and fatalism deter the good intentions people might have for change. Feelings of impotence and disengagement from the problems and solutions are breeding the acceptance of a dystopian future. “As we believe, so it will be” was a theme of this artist’s prior work.
With violence and war rampant in the media, entertainment and all around us in the news, it seems we aren’t able to see utopian visions or embrace the equitable thoughts and actions of our past nor easily mobilize the public outcry for real change. Cynicism is portrayed here as the “DJ of Doom”; our gloom, apathy and powerlessness increase human displacement and environmental degradation, with no sense of home and safety. The retreat to drugs and fantasy, while the suffering of people on the streets, the chaos in our infrastructures, and impending disasters are ignored, can be addressed if we embrace and protect the gifts of the natural world, our only true salvation.
Catie Faryl
October 2023
The World is in constant motion. We grasp at patterns we perceive in nature and try to make sense of our world. Over many years of creating and showing art about the human condition I still view it as just a bit more comic than tragic.
Luck is one of the factors that characterizes the human condition. Humans on the world’s stage are a product of fate (what we are), of fortune (the conditions and circumstances in which we are placed) and of luck (what chances to happen to us).
Luck is a rogue force, omnipresent and securely connected to us by our many beliefs in the power of chance, chaos and choice. Scholars of the past and present brood about issues of human destiny and the topic has a long and lively history and future. As long as human life continues, Luck will pay a prominent part in our affairs.
With luck there must be the element of chanciness, and un-foreseeability with its room for surprise. Thinking about Luck both good and bad in the 21st century, even with vast leaps in knowledge via artificial intelligence and other systems, humans are still subject to Luck’s whims and those of her cousins, Fortune and Fate.
After much study and research on this topic, I’ve reinforced my previous belief that in life “Shift Happens”.
Catie Faryl, April 2023
VIEW “LUCK, FORTUNE, FATE” COLLECTION
Other Collections
“Digging Out from the Dirty Decades”
“Digging Out from the Dirty Decades” is compiled in a chronological card deck with 72 art images with writings about each topic or event that the artist created from Y2K til recently.
Card Decks are $30 each with a $5 fee for postage.
Email Catie to order a deck.
Balance Art Card Deck also available.
My Recent Blog Posts
Speaking To The Origins Of The Water Action Community
After being involved for years in regional sustainability efforts and helping teach the Project Drawdown climate change courses, I became more and more concerned about Water and the lack of preparedness and system improvements in the Rogue Valley. Like many places in the country, we’ve rested on our laurels and of late falsely depended on “good luck” for historic average rainfall and snowpack. Over 30 years living in Southern Oregon, working and serving in many jobs and community efforts, I was increasingly surprised with the lack of attention to our most essential ingredient necessary for happy lives of all beings…
The Shambhala Prophecy from “Coming Back to Life” by Johanna Macy
Coming to us across twelve centuries, the prophecy about the coming of the Shambhala warriors illustrates the challenges we face in the Great Turning and the strengths we can bring to it. Johanna learned in 1980 from Tibetan friends in India, who were coming to believe that this ancient prophecy referred to this very planet-time. She often recounts it in workshops, for the signs it foretold are recognizable now, signs of great danger. These are varying interpretations of this prophecy, some portray the coming of the kingdom of shambhala as an internal event, a metaphor for one’s inner spiritual journey…
Message from Mother Nature: Can You Hear Me Now?
Last Saturday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In 1970 twenty million people took to the streets across the US to protest against rivers that were catching fire, cities choking on pollution, species going extinct. 10% of Americans participated and spurred seismic changes -with a few years the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act were signed into law. The mass movement that forced progress in the ‘70s has continued to build. In 2019 over seven million people around the world walked out of their schools, their jobs, and their everyday lives to call for social,…
The Great Re-set
What we have before us is the Biggest Time Out of our lifetimes! “The Great Reset” the coronavirus provides is an opportunity to look deeper into the systems that have gotten us into this mess. I’ve often seen in my visioning for art and commentary that all communities across the country and the world are like links in a chain, which at some point in time might have to stand apart as single links in a 10 to 20 mile radius. The ideas of re-localizing food supplies and finding ways to travel and provide necessary energy without furthering the financial…
Dear Catie,
I enjoyed your Perfume Story and posted your story / art on our just launched Perfume Foundation Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PerfumeFoundation
– I am also impressed inspired by your insight to Art and our world through your words and art. We have also just launched a special LinkedIn Group called Art For Change http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ART-CHANGE-4895370?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
Continue to be inspired and thank you for your worlds and art
Cheers
Paul
Paul K Holmes
Vice Chair / CEO
International Perfume Foundation / Brussels