Real World

I know a factory owner who made a fortune long ago because a major client purchased a large amount of goods from his factory every year. However, in recent years, due to economic downturns, orders from this client have been decreasing, significantly reducing the factory's profits and consequently the workers' bonuses. As a result, the factory owner and his workers blamed everything on this major client, cursing him daily. This situation around me has left me deeply puzzled because I simply cannot understand the logic of biting the hand that once fed them.

Not long after, I read a World War I history book by Barbara Tuchman titled 'The Guns of August'. One chapter that impressed me deeply was about the German invasion forces committing atrocities in Leuven, Belgium, particularly the burning of the Leuven library. The Germans' absurd justification was that the burning was a response to Belgian civilians resisting their brutal acts; in other words, the civilians did not meekly allow the Germans to burn, kill, and plunder. 'The Guns of August' made me acutely aware that for those who have been long brainwashed, with a hardened cognitive system, logic is powerless and reasoning feeble.

From my calm observations of the people around me, I've found that most live within their own filters, having lost the ability to logically reason, thus their perception of the world does not reflect reality. In my environment, many believe that control and deception are beneficial to them. The images filtered through special lenses, contrasting starkly with reality, actually represent the 'real world' as seen by the majority. In their eyes, the factual world does not exist; there is only the world as they subjectively perceive it. Hence, white can be black, green can be red. In a picture altered by a special filter, any object that retains its original color will look out of place. Every object must first pass through a filter and change its appearance to blend in, just like a living person must have their thoughts extracted to become a puppet in order to fit into a highly manipulated society.

Nowadays, many regimes, for the sake of their own rule, force various filters on their citizens from a young age. The ubiquity of smartphones has greatly facilitated this behavior by the authorities. Therefore, the so-called 'real world' is merely one perspective of the camera. In the eyes of many who have been brainwashed, the real world is what I have depicted through my special filters. This is why this series of paintings is named 'Real World'.