Manicured Monkey
For as long as can be remembered, humanity has sought to elevate itself above the animal kingdom through pursuits such as reason, culture, technology, and myth. Yet a foundational question remains unresolved: are we elevated above nature, or forever inseparable from it?
Manicured Monkey approaches this tension using fauna as both subject and mirror through which to examine the conditions of humanity, and reflect upon the vanity of our species.
"You domesticated the very ground to yield its bounty at your whim.
You built factories that exhale clouds which suffocate the living.
You unearthed the corpses of ancient beasts to feed the engines of your Armageddon.
You even learned to harness the Sun itself, imprisoning its fire within a metal capsule, ready to deliver death.
You were given a world abundant beyond measure, and still you take, and take, and take. What will it take to satiate a divine hunger like yours?
Perhaps when you stand before an emptied field of stumps and bones will you remember the forests you once feared, revered, and called sacred. You will remember the countless children of the Earth, entrusted with the delicate balance of life, and how you filled your maw with their fat, clothed your trembling body in their furs, mounted their heads above your fireplace while their skin stretched around the very chair you sat on.
You poisoned your Mother’s veins and carved open her flesh to pave your roads and parking lots. Her lungs grow heavy with smoke. Her body trembles as she cradles the weight of your civilization. How long do you think it will be until she can bear no more?Oh, my dear Ape! You learned to wield fire and thought yourself king. Intoxicated by your own brilliance, you then came determined to crown yourself a God: a creator not of life, but of extinction. Your coronation set the Earth ablaze.
Perhaps when the ash fills your lungs, and your wax wings begin to melt, you will finally understand that the Earth was never yours to tame.
You may raise your polished claws to heaven, pluck your fur until your skin is plastic smooth. You may veil yourself in paint and perfume, drape your body in the finest silk, and mistake ornament for evolution. But you won’t stop until vanity drives you to your grave, and all that will lie in the coffin is a corpse of a perfectly manicured monkey.
My dear Ape, perhaps there is still time to turn vanity over and discover the wisdom on its other face.
Intelligence without humility brings ruin. Its cure is reflection, you see.
And when you are ready to meet your reflection - not in the polished glass, but in the forests, the rivers, the beasts, and all the living things from which you came that still remain - you will cease yearning for godly dominion, and remember the Human’s belonging."
Featured Artists:
Kevin Kuenster
Michael Tole
Matteo Moni
Ruoyu Gong
Denis Sarazhin
Noah Trapolino
Madeline Owen
Elise Rise
