Four foremost Maltese contemporary artists are participating in a collective that delves into the meaning of being human in today’s world. Joseph Agius talks to the artists involved, Saviour Baldacchino, Antoine Paul Camilleri, Debbie Caruana Dingli and Wallace Falzon. 

In an age when many aspects of life are transitioning to the virtual and robotic, to a fake and altered reality, one might think it would be reactionary to organise an exhibition, curated by Patrick Galea, entitled Just Human.

Debbie Caruana Dingli finds this new reality very depressing. “Humanity is losing out on good, old simplicity. We are heading to an age of the Metaverse, where people will be hunched over laptops watching their avatar, a more confident version of themselves, to experience life instead of them,” she remarks. She mournfully points out that the days when one popped over to a neighbour for a cup of tea will soon be gone. Humanity as a term is slowly becoming a misnomer as one would be hard-pressed to come up with a correct definition of it.

But Antoine Paul Camilleri believes the human element can never be replaced by machines, so the choice of title is still relevant, despite all. “In my opinion, the artist has become more evident than before; the artist is the tool through which any message can be transmitted,” Camilleri points out.

The human element is central to artist Wallace Falzon’s oeuvre. He finds it sad that any human-related content on social media is governed by the number of ‘likes’ it attracts. This is especially true for the younger generation that nurtures itself on electronic content fed to it. “We are experiencing a lot of fake profiles on social media coupled with a denial of reality as we often hear people have a lot of virtual friends. But what about actual ones?” Falzon queries. He says he is expressing these concerns through his sculpture AI Takeover?, the interrogation mark maybe indicating a debatable point.

Saviour Baldacchino is quite sure the virtual world has already established a strong foothold in contemporary life, a very “uncomfortable” state of affairs. “We can observe that in this day and age, nearly every person is forced to have some kind of virtual life: social media, communication media, e-mail, etc.” In fact, he thinks people who persist in not succumbing to the thralls of the virtual world are being steadily ostracised. “People who are not computer literate nowadays must feel illiterate and that they are no longer accepted in society,” he adds.

In contemporary circumstances which have taken the world by storm, one debates whether art can still be regarded as an efficient vehicle to express empathy, essentially to be human. But Camilleri’s sculptures are what being human is all about, with the flaws, imperfections and insecurities. We are not gods, shortcomings are our bonds. He tries to portray the humanity in his real-life model, through elongation and distortion, trademarks of his sculptural output. “Through my work, I try to convey the mo­del’s form, pose and character,” he affirms, adding that no machine can match or replace the physicality and tangibility that defines the creative process. “Through mo­delling with clay, I leave my fingerprints all over; the pressure I exert on the clay is calculated to attain the required effect. No machine can replicate the soulfulness of this.”

Caruana Dingli agrees with Camilleri’s perspective: “My art is just my very human thoughts put down on paper,” she observes.

Falzon thinks that art still deals with an empathy that is universal, and whose meaning transcends even the human species. He explains: “One of the paintings represents empathy with our pets. This artwork is about a young man on his mobile texting away and the dog is looking straight at the viewer waiting for his walk to continue. The title is Patience (for the dog).” He continues: “The other painting shows direct empathy with the elderly during the pandemic that we just experienced. My works have their own narratives and messages, which I love to discuss with the viewer.”

Baldacchino’s view is perhaps more sadly realistic. “I believe that the good old oils and acrylics have their days counted,” he says, although he insists he will keep using the traditional media. He feels it is a battle which cannot be won as almost everything has migrated to digital, although artwork in traditional media still have the upper hand among local collectors for the time being.

“Creating art on a computer is creating opportunities for new artists. This does away with the need for a dedicated studio space to produce and store art; there is no lingering pigment smell or unsightly dirt. The ease to showcase one’s art is probably what makes the whole thing more attractive to budding artists.”

Art and the Posthuman world

Contemporary philosophers and sociologists claim that we are approaching a posthuman world; a person is urged to exist in a state beyond the human. A post-humanist viewpoint entails a measure of human participation; however, the human being is not in complete control as machines that we have created are progressively replacing us. Transhumanism, another philosophical concept, relates to the research and development of robust human-enhancement technologies.

‘Just Human’ brings together four artists whose oeuvres are very anthropocentric

Baldacchino hopes and prays that he would be long gone before he can witness this kind of “sick existence”. Falzon insists that this categorical, dystopian-sounding change is scary but “this unnatural progression” can’t be averted. “It is a war on the soul of being as it is replaced by the ideal perfect synthetic imagery of avatars,” he remarks.

Caruana Dingli is adamant that she doesn’t want to be part of this futuristic scenario. “I consider myself lucky to have tasted and enjoyed life without technology,” she asserts, acknowledging and accepting that she would be metaphorically “left behind” through her resistance to change.

Camilleri claims that science and techno­logy don’t possess universal answers to human existential questions. The title of the exhibition, Just Human, reminds us that it was at times in world history when humanity refrained from behaving as such. He remarks: “History shows us dark periods when men considered others as less human or not human at all. Nazis considered Jews as non-human creatures, and colonialists took a similar stance towards Africans.” He believes that the artist has an important role to fill by reminding society not to repeat mistakes. “Dehumanisation has become today’s currency,” Camilleri asserts. “Society still debates whether an embryo is a human being; dehumanisation is so convenient for the pro-abortionist lobby.”

AI, NFTs and art in the ‘brave new world’

One of the aspects of this new reality is AI and the machines that can create art spontaneously. Some believe that the spectrum of human emotions would one day be easily replicated technologically. The four artists are sceptical about AI-induced art.

Falzon thinks art can be simplified in two categories – art for art’s sake and art that represents the soul of the artist. “Machines can replicate anything, the viewer knows that AI art is not human expression,” he postulates. Relevant artworks provoke a reaction in the viewer, a spiritual experience that one can’t access through a computer. When one studies and experiences masterpieces of art in museums and art galleries, one is moved, one is enlightened and subliminally connects on some basic subconscious level with them; this is redeeming and fulfilling.

“I doubt that machines could ever reach that level of soul-touching experience. The imperfections in human art also mirror our humanity. A machine copying even the imperfections will still feel impersonal,” Falzon adds.

Caruana Dingli categorically repudiates the fads that have overwhelmed the art world, especially during the last year with the exorbitant prices that NFTs have garnered at international auctions. Some artists are riding the wave, but she is not interested to partake in it. “What is that all about?” she queries. “It sounds like a great money-laundering venture.”

Camilleri shares the same views: “The human emotion and presence can never be replaced by AI and technology.” He believes that “AI-induced art is just an interpretation of artistic creation.”

Baldacchino is more optimistic. “Art is maybe an area in which machines will never be better than us. Human artists have no competition in that respect. Machines can never feel. Machines are too perfect to exhibit flaws and ugliness. Machines can’t cry, at least I hope that they will never be able to do that.”

Just Human as artistic expression

The title of the exhibition lashes out like an unequivocal declaration, like a stern admonishment. It also reads like a plea, in a world dominated by attempts at usurping characteristics which ‘label’ us as being human at a time when the world is doing its utmost to ridicule the most basic and intrinsic. Just Human brings together four artists whose oeuvres are very anthropocentric.

“The four of us interpret life and the human figure from different and unique perspectives,” observes Baldacchino. He adds that the creative exercise carries a measure of self-criticism and self-consciousness; one might say that the Just Human exhibits are consequently self-portraits in which the artist’s naked emotions can be scrutinised by the public. It does not get more human than that. 

“This exhibition is a reminder that humanity is a treat, a gift. Leave perfection out and let humanity work like all the cogs in a clock. Let it tick along at a steady and uninterrupted pace,” Caruana Dingli remarks. “I feel that we are displaying a great diversity of human idiosyncrasies”.

“Art helps people to think and question. We say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I say it’s more, as art could be thera­peutic, revolutionary, provocative and spiri­tual in a world that shouts the synthetic but craves, in secret, the genuine,” says Falzon.

“No machine can match this physical and direct contact of the artist at work. Just Human is all about this, about our humanity as artists,” Camilleri says. “We all know our works will be mostly viewed from a six-inch mobile screen, in search of the promised ‘likes’. This time round, I challenge the viewers to join us at Obelisk Gallery and relate to our pieces in situ; to experience, interpret and have the opportunity to delve into the souls of the artists themselves; we are attempting to demonstrate what it’s like to be ‘just human’,” Baldacchino concludes.

Just Human, curated by Patrick Galea and hosted by Obelisk Gallery, Main Street, Balzan, is on until July 8. Opening hours: Wednesdays 4-7 pm or by appointment by phoning on 356 99492259 or by sending an e-mail to patrickpgalea@gmail.com. Consult the event’s Facebook page for more information.