THE GREAT DECEIT

With “The Great Deceit”, the viewer is transported back in time during the stern and dark times of Europe in the 30’s when individuals used hate as a political platform to tear societies apart in the name of a nostalgic and idyllic past that never existed. 

Deceit, lies, manipulation, singling out of minority groups as scapegoats have become a recurring theme in contemporary culture to the point of almost becoming trivial. 

The Great Deceit can be read like a page of history, suspended, and bashed by sorrow and mortal blows, but it carries in its core a binary message made of zeros and ones, a call for love, a call for peace written by Charlie Chaplin during his famous speech given in “The great Dictator” film which came out in 1940. It starts like this…

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery” … 

110 cm x 110 cm x 7 cm

photo credit: Simon Martner