Societies under the Influence

With the currently prevailing dynamics of the economy generating a slew of social and environmental problems, and geopolitics ­appearing to be as chaotic as the climate, the upheavals presently impacting our world and its future are definitely cause for concern. Such realities and their ­ramifications have become prime material for artists today. The ­collapse of the twin towers in 2001 has deeply shaken the relative ­security in which North Americans have lived since the Second World War. Beset since by new traumas—suicide attacks on mass ­transportation in large Western cities, retaliations of extremists causing the death of ­thousands of American and allied troops serving in the Middle East, secret services thwarting Machiavellian plans for the destruction of Western ­economies and democracies, rising multicultural tensions within their very own cities, channelled by religious fundamentalism, the resulting fear and xenophobia—, society is in the grips of insecurity and anticipates the worst. The twists and turns of this collective anxiety give the ­contemporary artist much to think about—as does the latent phobia that we find inscribed into our everyday lives and ready to flare up at the least spark.