A Zero Game for Sum

So….. 

Where to start on this one? It began one day when a young guy walked into our gallery while I was sitting at the front desk and he pretty much shot down the good work of each of the artists on the walls. This was by no means constructive feedback, and I was perplexed at this as the art was good. It may not have been the greatest art in the world, but there was still no sense to his negativity. 

The second experience that triggered the creation of this piece was soon after doing a series of marketing posts online. This is where the unscrupulous troll crept into my life for the first time. The masked and remorseless face of human nature at its finest. 

What I learned from these experiences was one of the most important lessons of my life. I was so focused on the negative, not the positive, and my focal point was all wrong. 

Soon after the final blow of this series of events, Olga and I went to a bar, grabbed a beer and dug into my feelings and reactions with the aim of coming up with an idea that would allow me to “get the shit out of my system.”

Olga, as wise as always, pulled up one particular thread on Facebook. She scrolled down to this one comment and read it again. Now, she said…. your focus is here…. why is it not on this…. ? She then proceeded to scroll over hundreds of other comments in the same thread which were amazing, kind and from a place of love. 

My focus had been all over the negative and all I had to do was switch my focus to the positive. 

To further combat this in my mind, we started conjuring up my artistic interpretation of the situation. After this conversation I had my newest vision locked and loaded in my mind and ready to fire. 

What is it about human nature that when someone is doing really well, there is always someone who wants to cut their success down in one way or another? 

I have always known this as the “Tall Poppy Syndrome.”

I allowed  this concept to further percolate in my mind before it touched the canvas.

Here is the first step straight from my mind, and it is a very literal interpretation of the idea. There is a tall poppy and one of the characters is there to cut it down. Some of the characters are in opposition to it, some don’t care and some would even take pleasure in it.

As with all of my work, if I state a problem I always want to imbed a solution. This is where the idea took a turn. 

I did some research about the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” and it goes as far back as an account of the tyrannical Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus who died in 495 BC. He is said to have received a messenger from his son Sextus Tarquinius asking what he should do next in Gabii, since he had become all-powerful there. Rather than answering the messenger verbally, Tarquin went into his garden, took a stick, and symbolically swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies that were growing there. The messenger, tired of waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii and told Sextus what he had seen. Sextus realised that his father wished him to put to death all of the most eminent people of Gabii, which he then did.

The Huesca Bell by José Casado del Alisal. *Wikipedia

There is a similar legend about the king Ramiro II of Aragon, who asked for some advice of his old master to deal with some nobles who questioned his power. His master did not say anything but just cut the heads off the tallest roses in the garden. This legend is known as the "Bell of Huesca".

Finding out how ingrained this syndrome is in our society, regardless of whether people still actually lose their heads for it or not, made me want to not only push for a visual representation of the problem, but to also represent the solution in the artwork. No different from reading a self help book on how to not let the world's opinions affect one’s happiness. I decided that the poppy in question needed a defence mechanism of its own to defend itself from the scissor wielding maniac. The natural progression to this thought/analogy is body armour. A metaphor for a stronger mind which also reflects the age of this antiquated tall poppy mentality. In the end I opted not to add the armour as it doesn’t solve the problem. Armour would only serve to be a solutionless bandage.

Furthermore, I wanted to not only explore the protection of the tall poppy, I wanted to explore why it became tall. The “Peregrine Man” who is my main character in many of my storylines, to me he represents the portion of people in this world who are the ones truly doing their best to improve, grow and lead. 

That is why the Peregrine Man is pouring water at the tall poppy’s feet. He is a selfless human in support of anyone who is willing to poke their head up and stand out in this world. 

The poppy flower has for many centuries distanced itself from the actual meaning of this phrase, and the use of any subject matter can equally demonstrate this concept. This finding led me to switch to the rose. Waking up and smelling the roses is an underrated skill these days, and I’d like to think that each and everyone of us has the ability to do so. This was a positive spin I wanted to add into the concept. 

After this long line of thought, I ended up switching back to the Poppies as they are closer to the original phrase. This allows my viewer to catch onto the idea a little quicker. The reaction time of my viewer is taken into heavy consideration in every piece I create, as it is all a part of my intended viewing experience. 

I really dug into this concept on so many personal and psychological levels. One particular conversation I had regarding this concept was with a PR agent who I met at a party. His comments over a few brief moments at this event helped me shape my entire view on this intrepid experience.

 Trolls sit at the bottom of the pond while someone who is doing well sits at the top of the pond, (The Lotus). Anyone who gives positivity to you is trying to get to the top of the pond, but anyone who says a negative thing is trying to drag you down to the bottom of the pond with them. The moment you engage, they have won. Much like learning how to deal with bullies in school really.

It is all very simple. Don’t engage!

Initially in my earlier understanding of this scenario, I had emailed one particular troll in a very nice way. I told him that I appreciate feedback, I always want to learn where a criticism is coming from, I thanked him for taking the time to write something and apologised for erasing one of his comments as it had a negative effect on my business. 

Of course I received no response. 

In the end, life is too short and too damn good to give life to negativity. There is always a silver lining to even the shittiest of situations. All we have to do is see it.