JA: The title Go Blind Era is a categorising one, a brutally honest choice that is representative of a world that has become oblivious to a lot. As declared in the exhibition mission statement, “In an era marked by unprecedented upheaval and uncertainty, humanity often seeks solace and solidarity among like-minded individuals, inadvertently nurturing one-sided belief systems within the echo chambers of the internet”. Has egocentricity become a safety net after all?

DB: Egocentricity has always been a safety net for humans. The English saying “birds of a feather flock together” can be traced back to the 16th century in a poem by William Turner. The fear of change and the unknown is not a new phenomenon. Humans seek harmony to feel safe. A pleasant A major chord, a singing choir. Harmony, and with it, validation.

Aljenat

Psychological studies have shown how people in new groups pick up traits, mannerisms, and ways of dress from each other to become more unified and similar. The ‘us vs them’ theory has been around since the 1970s. It is an evolutionary human need to belong to a group, to be accepted. However, studies show us that this urge can lead to irrationality and results in more division on a larger scale ‒ the echo chambers of the internet amplify this.

It’s interesting how this attitude also becomes exacerbated by consumerism and the need to make everything a resource. This results in feelings of loneliness and so we create false, exaggerated and extreme one-dimensional personas online, to feel like we fit into a larger group. We consequently sacrifice our subjectivity to fit into this larger group, and as a result lose out connection to the natural world.

Il-bogħod....., il-bogħod ħafna

JA: However, it also means that you, as an observer and an artist, are not blind to these new circumstances, to the existence of the prisons of Instagram and other egocentric social media platforms. The title of the exhibition, in fact, is an anagram of your name – is this indeed a duality that you seek to explore, that someone actually cares about all of this, that blindness is relative after all?

DB: Like I said, these circumstances are not new. If anything, humanity is a prisoner to its own irrationalities. The internet age has simply put up a magnifying glass to the anthill. One would hope that this magnifying glass would allow people to see the incongruences and take action; however, humans are creatures of habit and they prefer the safety of their bubble.

It has been an effort for me to shift out of my own comfort zones and circles, to leave my native country, learn a new language, make new friends, pick up a new skill. A challenge, however, that has undeniably allowed me to observe the potential for duality in humanity.

Corolla Axio

Viewers might instinctively read too much into the title, when actually it is a play on letters. The final choice of more than 50 anagrams generated from my name. Each form created by every anagram looks different, but the root is the same. The meanings change depending on one’s shift in perspective.

JA: The relationships represented in some of these paintings are impersonal, maybe illustrative that any emotional exchange could have been instantaneous and self-satisfying, almost virtual. Have we really come to this? Have humanity and outward emotion become a disposable symptom?

DB: I have to disagree with your statements here, Joseph. The relationships presented, even the virtual ones such as in Aljenat, show great intimacy and emotion. Sure, the emotions are not flamboyant or self-aggrandising.

A hand on the shoulder, a head bowed in sadness, a gaze of longing or uncertainty. These have heavy deep emotions, perhaps also uncomfortable ones that many prefer to ignore or shrug off.

It has been an effort for me to shift out of my own comfort zones and circles, to leave my native country, learn a new language, make new friends, pick up a new skill

I would say that it is not that overt outward emotion has become disposable, but rather that we often choose not to sit with our more quiet, and perhaps, uncomfortable emotions as they require more mental effort on our part.

Laughter and rage are easily expressed, recognised and loud emotions. Fear, longing, pride, humility ... those are all quiet and harder to distinguish. So maybe we are actually losing our ability to read these emotions in others.

In the frame

JA: The protagonists of your paintings appear lost, self-absorbed and looking away from the observant world out there. A strong sense of pathos, of helplessness pervades generally in these works. Do you refer to other modern and contemporary artists, or is the Go Blind Era unperturbed by what’s out there too, artistically speaking? In an age of influencers and TikTok celebrities, can an artist transcend what’s pelted out as art-related internet content?

DB: I see myself in all of the protagonists and like I mentioned, I have always been prone to limiting myself to my safe spaces; afraid to explore and challenge myself and ultimately understand other perspectives. So yes, perhaps there is an element of self-absorption. I still like to sit with myself and observe, however, it is not in avoidance but in reflection.

Fl-abjad nidher aħjar

The world is all around us, so really and truly, either way you look, you’re always looking at something. Whether an artist actively follows the work of other contemporary artists, or passively watches streamed sitcoms or takes long walks, they are still being influenced by the world around them, not just artistically but also emotionally.

Social media has been a great tool in robbing some of the power from elitist and classist power structures that come with art universities, galleries and entities. Nowadays, everyone can consume art even if they can’t afford a museum ticket, they can still watch art movies from their home, or experience a live concert without getting on a plane. They can also share, set up a show and sell their art on their own terms, rather than being systematically excluded based on your family’s wealth or name.

All I need is you II

What is consumed by each individual is and has always been highly independent on taste and accessibility. If the current time requires short videos on social media platforms, then museums should also be moving with the times. We have the power to choose and curate our own content.

But back to the point of shifting perspectives. Sure, many shit on influencers and TikTokers as generating a lot of trash, however, they can also be seen as co-building the largest archive of human society ever compiled.

In decades to come, archaeologists, sociologists and artists will be looking back to these archives to get a glimpse of what the world before them was like, just as many are doing today with pre-war photographic and video archives.

Crop II

It’s all about perspective. When the camera was invented, it was seen as a threat to painting, instead it became another tool and medium in and of itself, which is not literally accessible to everyone.

Nothing is all bad or all good. Complacency and fear bring out the worst in us, but they are also understandable. 

Go Blind Era, curated by Melanie Erixon and hosted at Mqabba’s Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq, runs until November 5.