Chapter 2: Understand

In Greek mythology, Nemesis is the winged Goddess of retributive justice. She benevolently punishes mortals for their crime of arrogance before the Gods. Around 1501, Dutch artist Albrecht Dürer mastered his image of Nemesis. She floated on a sphere, hovering above the human landscape, dominating and observing. In one hand she holds a whip and bridle, restraining the impertinence of human beings. In the other, she holds a cup, symbolizing a possible reward for the lucky few. In Spazuk’s reinterpretation of the scene, Nemesis stands over a desolate site. A site of barren wasteland formed from tar sand. Nemesis does not hold a cup, rewarding those who obey, she holds an hourglass, she warns. As human beings deplete the Earth of fossil energy, we are too reducing our time on these lands. There can be no reward, if there are no recipients.

Chapter 2: Understand, functions as a cautionary tale, with Nemesis playing the main character. The chapter is composed of Nemesis, Wild Canary in the Gold Mine, Flower Power, Starling on Grenade, Tipping Point, Gas Mask with 2 Birds and a Clover, Monarchy, Hêtre ou ne pas être, Notre-Dame de Paris vs Forest Fire, and Three Wrens on a Rant. The collection is about de-mystification and deconstruction. It is a stark reminder to own our arrogance and hubris, which is directly causing this horrid destruction. It is simultaneously about responsibility and recognition. Like an integral mother, Nemesis and all of the works in Understand, sternly speak to the viewer, the ungrateful children who have forgotten where they came from.

The mother disciplines in order to teach. The great difference, of course, is that these images are representations of realities, not myths. We have all witnessed great Mother Earth’s wrath this past year. We have seen the Earth light up in fires, bringing smoke to the lungs of her citizens. We have heard “I can’t breathe” chanted like incantations through the streets of our cities. We are living a global pandemic. If the urgency of our humility is not taken with severity, we are assured a growing reality like that of Nemesis’ landscape. Spazuk warns FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!: do not walk, run towards justice – there is little time left.