Gohar Martirosyan • Embodiment of fears
Throughout history, humanity has a language in order to communicate with fears, via religion, myths and rituals. Pre-Civilianize society embodied their fears in totems. Most of them were set up in areas where natural phenomena that hadn’t been accessible to the human force were fearful. The Pagan Armenia’s believed: “During a thunderstorm, celestial Visups go down on earth”(Wikipedia). At the same time in Buddhistic culture was a meditation, dedicated to Mother Kali, who eats up fears. However, you have to be brave to give them up irrevocably in order to emancipate yourself.
In nowadays life, we are face to face with our fears. We feed, consume and manufacture them. Fear is a tool of control and measure of power. During the strike, in September 2020, ex-president of Belarus A. Lukashenko revealed on the streets of Minsk more than 10 military vehicles. The equipment was not turned on. However, it was impressive enough in order to dispel fear.
In the frame of this project I study the complex sets of influences that participate in building social fears. The main aspect is over consumption of information. Sociologists have proved that more than 60% of civilians believe that their life is under danger if they stop to follow up the social media. The world today suffers from a strong shortage of the symbolic. Data and information lack any symbolic force, and therefore do not allow any recognition. In the symbolic emptiness those images and metaphors that generate meaning and founding communities that give stability to life are lost. Decrease experience duration. And the contingency radically increases.
According to this study I revealed for myself a strong necessity to find symbols and language in order to embody our fears.
The project is a part of my whole research in process.
Gohar Martirosyan