Macey
Some of my best work has been born from sleepless nights, and that’s exactly from whence the seed of this idea came. Caught in a thought limbo, it took some time for it to translate into something tangible, but (as all ideas either persevere or perish) I am proud to say that this one made it through. I would like to present my newest photo: Self Sans Sin, a new take on the proverb, “Hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil.”
Here is the most popular origin story of the “Three Wise Monkeys”: In the 2nd-4th century, Confucius’s Code of Conduct contained the admonishment that one ought to “Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.” The Code was brought to Japan in the 8th century and probably inspired the pictorial maxim that gained these three monkeys fame, a 17th carving over the door of the Tōshō-gū Shrine in Nikkō, Japan.
The monkey association may have arisen from a Japanese play on the words Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru, which translate to “see not, hear not, say not.” The negation -zaru is identical to a modified version of the word for monkey (saru)!
And, speaking of sleepless nights, some believe that the monkeys prevent the Sanshi—Three Corpses or spirits that live inside everyone and report good and evil deeds to the god Ten-Tei—from being able to see, hear or speak of the deeds of the inhabitant. Every 60 days the Sanshi make their reports, and those that aren’t protected by the monkeys attempt to stay up all night to avoid receiving their report card. As evil deeds accumulate, the Sanshi shorten the person’s lifespan and health.
As ambiguous as the origin, these Three Wise Monkeys are held in high regard by many cultures and, as with all things lost to time, they are subject to broad interpretation.
While many take to heart the meaning that is in tune with Confucius’s teachings (that if you hear no, see no, or speak no evil than you will live an evil-free life, for evil attracts evil), others look at it as a condemnation of those turning a blind eye on evil and therefore allowing it to grow.
Here is my take on it and how I created the image:
Behind the Portrait
After two failed attempts with various other methods, I arrived at an idea I thought would work. Third time is the charm, right?
Not wanting to portray a certain race or culture I chose to cover my face in black light paint, the paint also serving as a mask. Are those that ignore the evil in the world wearing a mask of saintliness? I lean towards the belief that if you lead a good life and don’t hurt anyone along the way, then you are waging a battle on evil. But it is not truly so black and white, is it?
How I did it
Here is my set up. Believe it or not, this image was created in a unsightly garage in the middle of the day. Problem-solving and art go hand-in-hand, so I climbed up and covered the garage window with a blanket, then rigged a set up for the black light using a clamp light and tripod. Next step: creating a pleasant setting for the time-lapse which still allowed me a mirror. Altogether I used 3 tripods, but for who doesn’t have a bunch of those lying around, remember that improvisation is always possible. The hardest part of self portraits is to correctly focus, so I used a statue of a bear as a stand-in. Initially determined to do this on my own, I surrendered and asked for help painting my hands and pressing the shutter button. Thank you @theziglet
Be sure to see my newest photo “Self Sans Sin” for yourself at the Leesburg Center for the Arts’ Womanmade exhibit, running from Friday the 6th to April 10th.
Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more adventures in art!
