Demokratia
Maple wood, silver, aluminium, gold leaf, pigmented linseed oil
44cm x 110cm x 178cm
2011
Photo by Stefan Altenburger
Demokratia
In its closed version, the work 'Demokratia' is a rectangular wooden box representing the structure of an ideal democracy. On the bottom a thin panel symbolizing the lower class, then the main part composed by the middle class, and finally another thin panel on the top embodying the upper class. Two silver coins are perfectly set in the right and left side of the box evoking a healthy equilibrium between the social and the financial system. The tulip bulb on the coins is the promise of a harmonious growth. As soon as one opens the box the equilibrium, the harmony disappears. The coins have been moved, someone has usurped the power, and the fading tulip symbolizes the beginning of an unavoidable decline. The artist has imagined that a portion of the middle class has given birth to different, more hierarchical structures, with different types of a ruling upper class. Like politics, this work is a mysterious intrigue.
