Untitled & Portrait of Augustus

" " , 2022

Photograph; print nailed to wood.

With this artwork I intended to comment on the eliminationist nature inherent to hierarchies of value, and their exclusionary effects on those left at the bottom of the hierarchy. The creation of a hierarchy of labour acts to moralize wealth inequality, and justifies the exploitation of laypeople as the value of their labour is less than that of the elite, acting to entrench the implicit (or explicit) exclusionary views of its framers. This historical thread of institutional classist violence, and its connection with maintaining social hierarchies of value, link antiquity with modern political theory. Artistic motifs found in communist regimes are reactionary to these hierarchies, and bolster the value of the hand through imagery like the hammer and sickle (USSR) or the fist (trade unionist and anarchist movements of the 1910s). Recently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw “essential workers” such as those working at grocery stores be subjected to higher risk of exposure as the world saw their “unskilled work” as replaceable.

The autogenesis of the hierarchical structures have allowed them to survive from antiquity to modernity. Wood, and its autogenic quality, was therefore a natural choice for the frame. The specific piece of lumber was chosen as it was retrieved from a scrap pile, reflective of how society treats others, and its quality if treated respectfully. These temporal qualities of the work’s motivation are also mirrored in the nails hanging the print. Not fully driven into the wood, but enough to suspend the work, creating a tension between permanence and impermanence.

My choice to take this photograph on a mobile phone comments on the high barrier to entry in art, and its role as an exclusionary force. The marginal cost of a photo on a mobile phone is zero and its quality is ever improving, allowing for inclusive artistic expression.

The photograph depicts a set of hands engulfed in a sea of black, cut off both figuratively, from society represented by the wooden frame attached to the viewer’s physical reality, and literally at the wrists, disconnecting the hands from their associated body. This creates a dynamic of anonymity and recognizability. The hands are naturally recognizable to the sitter but are foreign to us the viewer. The choice of hands as the subject is symbolic of others, those placed at the bottom of our social hierarchies.

The lack of a label is a reflection of my desire to leave the viewer’s individuality uninterrupted. Although initially titling the piece Mothers, Fathers, and Others - referencing the name sharing work of the feminist author Siri Hustvedt - I felt that the existence of my name or a title would prime the viewer and precondition their experience. In keeping with the themes present in the work, I’m firmly against the existence of a hierarchy of opinion; instead I believe that all responses to the artwork are equally valuable and that preconditioning the viewers experience is denigrating the viewer's opinion below what is mentioned on the label, entrenching the appearance of the art world as elitist. Rather than a label, the piece is shown alongside a letterbox, allowing the viewer to contribute their thoughts on the piece in exchange for a brief introduction to some of the motifs that I find in myself from the art.

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Roman

Portrait of Augustus, 0 - 39 CE

Parian Marble

Museum Appropriation Fund 26.160

This piece, although made at the end of (or after) Augustus’s life, depicts Augustus in the visage of his younger self; the idealized vision between God and mortal. This depiction of Augustus was introduced ca. 39-38 BCE and was reproduced throughout his reign to serve a propagandistic role in how Augustus wished to be perceived. The recognisability of Augustus’s portraiture for his subjects is juxtaposed with the anonymity of his true self, hidden behind the stylised mask of man at least 40 years Augustus’s younger. Although the core elements of Augustus’s portrait remain consistent across works, depending on the attributes he wanted to portray, supplementary accessories were added or removed. In this particular work, the top and back of the sculpture are unfinished, suggesting that originally Augustus’s head was covered by his toga. Head coverings then, as today, were often linked with faith; so this depiction of Augustus would signal his role as Rome’s chief priest (pontifex maximus) to the viewer, and connected his reign to the peace associated with practicing your faith. The desire to connect his rule with peace is mirrored in other notable works depicting Augustus, such as the Prima Porta and the Ara Pacis Augustae - literally translated as “Altar of Augustan Peace”. The visual artistry translated into a cultural connection, with the peace of his rule sometimes referred to as the Pax Augusta, or his role as the first emperor of the Pax Romana.

Portraits of Augustus, such as this one, were prevalent in the ancient world and have contributed to his legacy. The self-commissioned vision of Augustus was a turning point in how rulers wished to be viewed by their subjects. Art has always been a legitimising and aggrandising force used by the affluent to shape their outward appearance. Whether domestically, the art on display to guests, or civically, in the form of monuments, art has been used to advertise and glorify its patrons. Sculpture was, in Greek contexts, often used to represent Gods. Augustus adapts this style into a political tool (known as the imperial cult), a tool which continued to be repeated from Napoleon to monarchs on coinage in the present. While busts became synonymous with wealth and power, everyone else became excluded from this art form, further entrenching who’s achievements - as well as what types of achievements - can be celebrated by this medium.

As mentioned earlier, the depiction of Augustus as pontifex maximus is one which propagandised Augustus’s role as a figure of peace. Critically, this omits to whom he is a figure of peace. Regardless, this portrait celebrates the mind of Augustus above what he may have achieved with his hands. By raising the achievements of the mind above those of the hand, a hierarchy of labour is created, which in turn creates a hierarchy of value.

In mediaeval times rulers were seen as great when they lead their subjects physically on the battlefield, however during the Renaissance - a period literally characterized by the rebirth of antiquity - rulers transitioned into being solely states-people. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor, despite already being the de facto leader of France, an emulation of Roman emperors. Although easily dismissed as a power grab, figuratively Napoleon separates himself from the man who wielded power physically to one who now wields it mentally. Reflectively the art of “Napoleon the emperor” shows him holding a scepter - a symbol borne by Zeus and Hades, later as a mark of a consul in the Roman Republic and then of the Emperor - instead of a drawn blade.