In his new collection, Taxiarchis Mermiris used ink to create a hoard of brilliantly stupid people who, within the context of many different environments, are ready to show off their power and domination. They sometimes appear in gift boxes, wrapped in packages or bubbles ready to burst and make their presence felt in the only way that one, let alone many stupid people, may attract attention. At times, they are placed on ships sinking and on derailed roller coasters of funparks, piled and aggressive, fighting among themselves. Having no remorse, or feelings of guilt, they ruthlessly battle for the most unique, the most excruciating, the darkest and loudest nothing. All for the absolute zero in the utopian idea of omnipotence, “All for an empty tunic, all for a Helen” [George Seferis].
On the ships where the stupid people of Mermiris coexist, some of the passengers are completely expressionless and impassive, while others endure the drama of the impending sinking. Of course, they keep having fun even underwater and manage to float, washing up ashore intact, because the stupid man is the one who survives in the ages of ages. The geniuses on the other hand, are hanging from balloon threads, sometimes plunging in a vacuum and at other times having the expression of martyrs ready to surrender to the crowd below. While differentiated, the threads holding them are as subtle as the differences between them and the stupid people.
Through the use of the wheel and the roller coaster, Mermiris suggests the cyclical nature of History, the rise and fall of civilizations and states, the repetition of the same mistakes, the prevalence of human passions and ultimately the volatile relationship and constant alternation of intelligence and stupidity. He describes a society based on shaky foundations that permits the prevalence of unfair competition, with a sarcastic, caustic yet dangerously honest way.
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