'Reigning Men' (44" x 60" limited edition print) by Paul Baines. We as a civilisation, as a race, are facing an economic oblivion tantamount to the Fall of Rome or the collapse of Ancient Greece. We the people of the C21st have passed our peak and are now heading down a steep decent towards a terminus, a station of life our current generation can only recognise within the annals of history.
This calamity has affected many countries, and those who are not still will be. Even the physically and psychologically distant lands of the war torn and dispossessed who have learnt through generations of history to subsist at any cost will feel its wake. For as the First World falls, so will its charitable intentions and aspirations, no matter how altruistic. The politically-charged benevolence of the West will stumble and charitable acts great and small, concerns for our fellow man, the hopes and beliefs of both governmental institutions and individuals will be dashed for the sake of self-preservation. The modern age is in retreat, a time will come when the economic powerhouse that is America will grind to a halt as the trillion or more dollar debt will be called in, and then the currency of currency itself will be brought into question.
As I sit here the 24 hour news channel spews forth a foray of disparate facts, bankruptcies in Bradford are up ten fold in the last six months, cruise lines have slashed their prices to one sixth compared to last year, Dodge cars are giving away a car with every car sold, these and many others are but an act of desperation by corporate heads with flailing arms determined to keep their balance sheets as close to black as possible. For many weeks the paranoid reportage of the mass media has strived to make comparisons with past mistakes, recessions and even the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The situation couldn't be more different, America was for the main part an agricultural economy, many of its citizens lived from hand to mouth, their farms barely able to support themselves let alone the country at large, the stock-market offered an opportunity to supplement their paltry income. The popularity of stocks and shares, the faith in 'paper currency', the rise of prospective wealth, the fervour for the 'economy as saviour and cure-all' came at a price. The bubble eventually burst and led to The Great Depression, almost of a decade of sufferance and subsistence across the States, however compared to the current global market, it hds far less affect on many other economies of the world.
We live in a different age, a time of worldwide interconnectivity, be it technological, financial, cultural or political. The price of oil is tied to the US Dollar, the rise and fall of the housing markets spread like wildfire to every corner of the world, from the USA to Europe to Asia to Australasia, we are all in this together and no one can escape. Our problems are compounded by our dwindling natural resources and impending ecological crisis, the political turbulence and potential conflict as hot-headed regimes across the world jostle for power, and the consequences of unlimited, and for the main part, highly subjective news and information services, fuel the fears and paranoia of every citizen of the earth.
I recently witnessed footage from the original 1929 Crash, and stared blankly as one Wall Street banker after another, in a final act of desperation, took it upon themselves to end their lives by leaping to their deaths. Leaving behind their plush offices and leather-bound executive chairs, mahogany desks and reams of worthless bonds and balance sheets. I myself have attempted suicide twice in my life, I am not a banker, I am not a wealthy man, I have suffered from severe depression (medical professionals blame it on a chemical imbalance of the brain) in the past, and most likely will again, but I have learned to control my urges to 'opt-out' from my existence, however cold and indifferent life may seem.
I cannot explain exactly why I know I will survive, perhaps out of the rubble of my former self I have managed to create a hardier and healthier psychology, maybe now I view life with a more philosophical bent, or it could be plain and simple human nature at work in its own mysterious fashion. Essentially that I could not sink any lower and began to 'float' back to the surface of what we all describe as reality. Whatever the reasons and wherefores I am here, I have passed through my own personal recession and depression and am an individually buoyant economy.
When I was at my lowest low I would turn to ancient history to find solace, tales of honourable suicide, times where honour was more important than the accruing of material wealth and power. Those times have passed for us all, the only reason a banker will jump now is if his building under attack from terrorists, he cannot justify to him or herself the oblivion of death, it would be a poor investment in 'self-worth;, and so we live side-by-side and day-by-day with the instigators of our impending disaster. We must all live with the effects of the selfish acts of those who once ruled our planet with an iron fist, clenching their ill-gotten gains close to their cold and indifferent hearts. The rich, the wealthy, the speculators will survive another day, yet their hunting grounds are bare, the foolish dreams of the common man lay dashed upon the rocks of a harsher yet more honest existence. The good times were never real, they were simply a promise of a glowing future that never was and never will be.
We are travelling in a different direction now, back to a time where wealth was measured by the gold in your pockets, borrowing credit will be viewed upon as it was in the past, with disdain and disbelief. Property ownership will lose its cachet, businesses will take generations to build, and self-sufficiency will become the order of the day. Reality is setting in, the party is over, the giants, the angels and devils, the movers and shakers have all fallen. We walk the road together again as one race of intelligent apes with only our wits to guide us through the treacherous path that is our destiny.
I have marked this occasion, this future historical sea change with my latest work 'Reigning Men' available as a 44" x 60" limited edition print here. I will only create ten works for the printed series, after which I will be recreating some as one-off painted pieces.
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Zeitgeist: Addendum. To further my argument of the fallacy of the banking system and the fundamental incongruities of the world economy I would like to draw your attention to a film by Peter Joseph which calls into question our society's reliance upon the unquestioned and for the main part ignored belief system of money. Unlike most governmental and religious institutions, the sheer weight of complex mathematics and statistical jargon is designed for one purpose alone, in short to provide a mask by which the common man will be deterred from questioning the processes of value in relation to currency. In effect this dogma disguises the fact that money, in all essence, equates to debt, in its purest form, it is and always has been quantified as loss. The ineffectiveness of the modern world could not be more clearly demonstrated than by the inequality of wealth across the planet and the damage done to its collective community
Powerful and tragic.
The content is so very sad, but the art is wonderful.
Many thanks for the comment Mary.
Wow what misery! You write pretty well, almost as good as your art. I really like this artwork of yours as its unique and interesting.The art and the content mix so well together.
My wife has been talking about a depression tantamount to the Fall of Rome. She is a history teacher and sees the parallels.
Your Reigning Men is quite powerful, in both picture and title.
Mel’s last blog post..Pakistan Blogs
I absolutely love the style of this piece.
Thanks Brad – how about a review? No it’s okay – I’m always pushing my luck heh.
Gosh this is amazing.
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[...] has some fantastic controversial street art available at his website http://www.paulbaines.co.uk. Click here to see Shacky’s favourite piece ‘Reigning [...]
[...] has some fantastic controversial street art available at his website http://www.paulbaines.co.uk. Click here to see Shacky’s favourite piece ‘Reigning [...]
My background is architecture and design, and I must say that I truly enjoy your work. This piece especially encapsulates the sign of the times for me. I hope that your comments on your Black Christ piece ring true. Only time will tell. I grew up spending weekends fishing on the beaches at Brighton and Hove, but I’m sure that does not bias me towards your work…Great site!
Many thanks Ranjan – no I don’t think location could bias one’s opinions, most of my works relate to worldwide matters.
I finally got round to looking at your artworks for sale as well as reading your blog and I think this one is amazing.
Thanks Jill – much appreciated
I love your artwork, this picture really sums up the credit crunch, the crap I went through with redundancy, and how it affects everyone else falling through it.
Thanks for the comment Barry – I really appreciate it – you hit the nail on the head – it’s exactly the message I was trying to convey. Good luck with the job hunt mate. Hopefully there is a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us
your artwork telling story, hurts,depressing,crisis,the movement seem to be alive…wonderful art piece!
Thanks Tony – I appreciate the positive comment – this piece seems to connect deeply with a lot of people
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