| I am submitting two paintings for
“The Spectre of the Real”. Both works are making use of self-made
stencils, a technique that is frequently by street artists. 1. Puzzled aka
CAMUSFLAGE (2019), oil on canvas, 91,5 x 41 cm The painting “Puzzled aka
CAMUSFLAGE” was made in response to the Brexit debate as it took place in the
media: TV/radio, print and online. In the centre of the work is the puzzled
individual (a red squirrel) who is overwhelmed by the chaotic events around
him/her. The squirrel is about to make a choice but seems undecided where to
go. Many people have suffered a similar paralysis during the Brexit campaign.
Some saw the economic benefits in remaining in the EU but, at the same time,
felt controlled by a foreign power. The news and TV debates only added to
this confusion. Conflicting information and emotionally charged statements
were often neither checked nor dismissed. Personal opinions of video bloggers
and news blips from established media didn’t help in the decision making
process. Strangely enough, the differing information cancelled each other out
and left many viewers disoriented and angry. The neologism “CAMUSFLAGE” is a
combination of the French writer’s name Albert Camus and the word camouflage
(disguise). Camus is known for his writings on absurdity. He thinks that
humans face existential uncertainty due to an absence of an inherent meaning
in life. Standpoints, which are thought to be right, turn out to be wrong and
vice versa. To avoid destructive nihilism, Camus saw solidarity and
cooperation as valid ways to transcend life’s absurdity. 2. Piensa en Grande
(2018), oil on canvas, 56 x 45.5 cm “Piensa en Grande”, Spanish “The
Spectre of the Real” – art in the age of global capitalism and
Neo-Liberalism, April 2019 / Sabatin Bascoban / 2 for “Think Big”, is a work
from a series of paintings that contain words. The billboard with the famous
slogan is placed in a desert-like environment. The sun is slowly sinking and,
by doing so, casting a long shadow onto the ground in front of the sign. When
reading the work geopolitically, it points to the immigration crisis that the
USA is facing at its southern border. Mexicans and other people from South
America, who were hoping for a new, safe and prosperous life in the USA, are
vigorously hindered from crossing the Mexican/US border. What is happening
there, is the exact opposite of the American Dream which the slogan is
propagating. Europe doesn’t have a better strategy than the USA when it comes
to coping with refugees and immigration. The Syria crisis has made this quite
evident. |
| SABATIN BASCOBAN Lives and works in
Southsea, UK EDUCATION Hochschule Hannover – University of Applied Sciences
and Arts, Hanover, Germany, Master of Fine Arts, 2001 Hochschule Hannover –
University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover, Germany, Bachelor of Fine
Arts, 1995-2000 Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Erasmus
exchange programme 1998/99 SCHOLARSHIP Artist in residence and assistantship,
Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark, 2013
Assistantship, ceramic and glass workshop at the School of Art, Design and
Media of the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hants, UK, 2011/12 Artists
in residence (AA2A), School of Art, Design and Media of the University of
Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, 2010/11 |
Spectre of the Real 