Acting As If We Understand The Islamic Faith Is A Fatal Flaw.

It is through a flawed British educational system that we lack a crucial understanding of not only the Islamic faith, but different religions, beliefs and opinions

I had a job interview yesterday at the Royal Festival Hall - (Yes I did finally get a job - Thank you for asking), but on my way there I encountered a very unfortunate scene. Sitting on a bench, enjoying the bank holiday sunshine, were what I presumed to be a Muslim family because of their Islamic clothing. A middle-aged woman came up to my face and screamed "You F****** Muslim Scum! Get The F*** Outta My Country! Killing Innocent British Men! You F****** Animals!" At first I thought she was talking to me, due to the fact that I was now drenched in her smokey-spit. I quickly established she was addressing the Muslim family opposite me. I stupidly said "Sorry, got in your way there!" and embarrassingly skipped on by as if to pardon my rude interruption of her polite racist confrontation. After attending my interview I realised what I had previously witnessed and began to become more aware of the rising tensions between many people in Britain opposing the Islamic faith. I was very much aware of this before the Woolwich attack, however that immediate experience made me far more conscious of the fact.

I have always tried to avoid religious issues and topics, 1 - because I know very little about different belief systems, 2 - I never thought it concerned me and 3 - It just all seems so bloody complicated. Without going in to too much detail I am agnostic; baptised Catholic at birth - 'DAMN YOU MOTHER!' (kneeling, fist wavering in the air, screaming to the heavens) - I believe in equality and justice, but overall I am a self-confessed confused mess. Earlier this year I completed an art project, which entailed the creation of my own religion (Requilibrium), which you can go and check out for yourself in my previous blog posts.  Throughout the project I explored my own opinions and beliefs in conjunction with other religions and individuals. I also sought to highlight the ignorance and arrogance they cause and the conflicts they create among opposing beliefs. One vital point I concluded from the public response to my project was that we all need to educate and familarise ourselves more with different beliefs if we wish to give a valid opinion of them. We must realise that all beliefs may differ but are all connected by one true fact: that they are all ultimately flawed. 

When the Woolwich attack went viral, a swarm of opinions exploded throughout the public and on social media websites. Many people used this attack as a basis for there own angered resentment of Muslims; due to the immediacy of the web, social media becomes a very dangerous tool. Some jumped to the conclusion that because these men claimed to be Muslims who followed the Islamic faith and teachings of the Quran, that the root cause of the problem was down to the entire Islamic faith. Que the BNP and EDL who used the attack as a corrupt catalyst of support for their own parties beliefs.
 I have not read the Quran, maybe I should, but I haven't. Therefore I have a very limited knowledge of what the Islamic faith is about and I do not wish to comment on the validity of Muslim beliefs and take a religious or philosophical approach to the debate. If I were to ask people who responded to the Woolwich attack by condemning Muslims, whether they had read the Quran, I am guessing the majority of them would say that they hadn't.     

I can understand people wanting to get there voice heard and gain a sense of social power, but what I realise is that people must be educated to acknowledge the power of their opinions and the affect these have on others. My experience of education in Britain felt very limited, restrictive and repressive; it doesn't seem to be getting any better due to Michael Gove (AKA: TWAT) and his Conservative lassiez-faire approach to education i.e. what ever he thinks is best. In Religious Studies I remember being taught to explore moral and ethical issues only from a Christian or Catholic point of View. R.S was only taught to me maybe twice or even once a week when I was doing my GCSEs. I never remember focusing directly on the beliefs of different religions and the reasons for their rituals; if I was it was only in a cringeworthy ancient politically-correct textbook.
I have always had a life-long passion for art. The main reason it appealed to me was because it was different to all the other subjects I took at school. I thought, here was a way of learning which really excited me; those mundane textbook and written exercises bored me to death  because of how repetitive they were. I could never really articulate myself and say what I truly wanted through speech or on a piece of paper. But when  a visual image was in front of me I could understand it on a level I couldn't with English and Maths or through reading and writing. It was through discussion and debate; physically and visually engaged in something that I thrived in discovering and learning. I'm not saying that all the reading and writing didn't help or wasn't necessary, but there needs to be an even mixture of different types of education. I did a test late last year to see what sought of learner I was, being told that I was a 'Multi-Sensory Learner' . I thought to myself, 'surely we're all multi-sensory learners, aren't we?'

The British Educational system is flawed and it's one of the main reasons there is a mainstream ignorant base of opinions which people feel comfortable to follow. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion, however, people must be aware of the various complex issues surrounding a subject which they wish to engage in a debate about. This is where education is crucial. If we want to live in a democracy with equal rights and follow laws of justice we must be educated to become more tolerant of each others beliefs. One way of doing this is creating a good understanding of different opinions and beliefs. It's ridiculous to say that we live in a harmonious multi-faith society when there are visible cracks between different ethnicities around the UK. Yes, Britain is a place that is full of culture and a diversity of people, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that we fully embrace this the way we should.

My proposal is that we begin to change the way we are educated about different beliefs, opinions and people. Whilst being taught the fundamentals of being tolerant towards others, people need to actually experience it for themselves. This is when an artistic way of learning can make a significant difference in people's attitudes towards others. Outside of schools, different areas and neighbourhoods should be brought together through local meetings and discuss their differences. People are afraid of opening themselves up to others because they feel vulnerable, hence why this current voluntary approach to getting to know people with different ethnicities simply is not working. It should be compulsory for children in schools, people in work and families in neighbourhoods to come together and learn more about eachother and their cultures. But the government simply do not see this as a priority, and perhaps you don't either because apparently our focus should maintain on the economic crisis and creating more jobs. I understand the importance of this, but do not use it as an excuse to dismiss the importance of foundations of a democracy and multi-faith society. It's not as if it would require financial attention either. We should implement simple compulsory schemes and activities, which help people of all different backgrounds come together and talk.

There is an argument that muslims are citizens who do not wish to fully integrate themselves into society; even if you do hold this opinion sometimes it comes down to the will power of an individual to help ease a shy stranger into a conversation and help them engage with others. My mother came to England when she was 18 from Ireland; she tells me how difficult it would have been to make new friends and become more socially active if she wasn't accompanied by two of her sisters. Ultimatley, if the government won't do anything about the problem of rising ignorant racist opinions and generalisations about other ethnicities (which you can bet on will be the case) then the decisive action needs to be made by you: the individual. So don't be afraid to go to the Muslim family next-door and ask them around for dinner; ask the silent Polish colleague in the office if he wants to go for lunch with you, or invite the shy Chinese girl in your class to a party on the weekend.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/23/woolwich-attack-terrorism-blowback

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/05/27/Brand-blame-Woolwich-madness - (Russell Brand always has something good to say about these sort of religious issues - I honestly think he might just be the reincarnation of Jesus; only slightly funnier than the original)  

Requilibrium - A Day in The Life of a Preacher Man

A Day in The Life of a Preacher Man

http://lewistoumazou.wix.com/requilibrium

And so we finally come to the final part of the Requilibrium project. This was undoubtedly the most challenging exercise as it had to be performed convincingly, but crucially I was relying on the public to respond to 'The Messiah' preaching about Requilibrium; hence there was an element of chance which played an important role. It had never been my intention to try and stimulate a certain response from the public that I wanted to display, let me clarify by saying that I did not fully know what the public response would be and allowed individuals to speak for themselves with their own opinion. If I did just force the public to have the response I wanted then this project would have been a complete failure as I wouldn't have learned anything about social judgment of different belief systems.

Yes I know I was forming a specific image for my religion and obviously wanted to cause an element of controversy over it, this being that I highlighted Requilibrium to be a flawed belief system and taking a direct approach to the delicate subject of preaching in Britain. Nevertheless, I did not try to make the public love or hate Requilibrium and 'The Messiah', I performed as 'The Messiah' and I stayed in role. I did not follow the largest response to gain a wider audience, as this would not have been a natural response with reliable or valid information. 

Throughout the description of public responses I am about to go through I will not go into too much detail about my personal opinion of what they mean, I will write a conclusion to summarize my understanding of the concepts explored. I would like readers to have their own opinion of what the public responses may mean and share any thoughts about the concepts of individual beliefs and their relationship to society and religion, British judgments of different belief systems being openly shared and preached about and the acceptance of different religious beliefs.

The responses were varied and all had their own significance. I was located in Bournemouth Town Centre dressed and in role as 'The Messiah' with my business cards in hand, which had the website address and name Requilibrium on them to help further inform the public and record their responses. Many people were quite stunned initially by my appearance, this led to some members of the public avoiding me and others approaching me asking who I was and what I was doing. I would inform these people that I was spreading the word about Requilibrium and that I was 'The Messiah' who had created the belief system. Everyone saw this as absurd and bizarre. Some people walked away with the card, others rejected to take it and some just stayed to find out more about Requilibrium.

There were many interesting responses which I will use as case studies to give you a clearer idea of what some people thought about Requilibrium and the fact that I was preaching.
The young man pictured above pointing at 'The Messiah' was working at the time to promote LoveFilm. He came up to me and kindly asked me what I was doing. Once I told him about Requilibrium he gave me a a very strange look and began to act quite sarcastic. After I was finished preaching and was wearing normal clothes I decided to approach him and inform him that it was actually an art project and who I really was. He seemed stunned and told me that he fully believed that I was genuinely, as he put it - "some nutter preaching about his religion". To me it seemed that everyone thought I was a strange preacher who was trying to gather a congregation of followers, which is obviously good in terms of the validity of the project. But it showed that even when people hardly knew anything about Requilibrium, and were just aware of the fact that I was a preacher, this was enough to make people either think I was strange, dislike me and want to avoid me. I therefore felt like I had been outcast from society and was labelled with this image of being a 'freak' who you should avoid.

http://youtu.be/XYyjIz3Nf1Q

Once I had given this man my card he turned around to ask me what I was promoting. He had quite an in depth discussion about my beliefs and the fact that I was preaching within Bournemouth. He seemed very curious because he asked a lot of questions about Requilibrium and was actually very sincere about my quest to spread my beliefs. He encouraged me to carry on doing what I was doing and said it takes a lot of courage to stand up in public and share your beliefs; whatever they may be. It was interesting that someone could be so kind about something they had a very basic knowledge of, perhaps he himself was on a quest to spread his own beliefs or something he felt strongly about. This forced me to question whether people can just hold a personal opinion about a subject such as preaching about religious beliefs, which is separated from the influence of mainstream social opinion.

http://youtu.be/52LVcO55I4s

This was perhaps one of the most interesting responses received during the public performance. The man in this video was an Orthodox Christian preacher. It was quite a bizarre experience debating my religious beliefs with him. Unfortunately you can't hear the actual conversation, but he begun by getting a clear sense of what my religion was about. Once I had informed him of all of my beliefs he openly told me why my beliefs were wrong and his were right. It was actually quite easy to stay in character, because as ironic as it might sound, before this project began and during the performance, I have always despised people who preach their beliefs to others. Therefore when he was telling me why I was wrong, because I had gotten so absorbed by the character of 'The Messiah' I was very angered by this mans attack upon my own religion and began to get quite defensive' forgetting that I was doing the exact same thing as he was.

Looking back at the video I realize how strikingly similar we both were; both blinded by our own arrogance and weren't realizing that the debate wasn't leading anywhere. He told me he was right because the bible was solid evidence god exists and that Christianity is the correct religion to follow. I countered his argument with the fact that I was right because I knew that I was absolutely correct and that Requilibrium was the religion/cult that needs to be followed. This was essentially his own argument, whilst he may have been a follower of a religion and I was the creator of mine, when I asked him why; if God existed, God was right, he said because he simply was because of existing as a higher spiritual-being. The debate went on for several minutes and we continued to carry on picking flaws at each others beliefs. At the end of it he told me has was in fact happy to see another man being brave enough to speak out about his beliefs, but that it was a shame that I was preaching about the wrong religion. We exchanged cards and wished each other the best of luck.

http://youtu.be/ICCr_SRoKZE

This response from one man was probably the most extreme. Once I had handed him my card he continued walking for a short while whilst asking me what I was promoting, telling him it was Requilibrium "the religion that'll change your life", he turned to me and responded "fuck that mate, do you want a smack in the gob?" and threw the business card back in my face. He obviously did not approve of people preaching about their religious beliefs and felt quite strongly about this.

After he had left I moved to a different area of Bournemouth Town Centre. He saw me again and threatened me to leave because he had a problem with what I was doing. At this point I realized he was clearly agitated and I didn't want a fight to break out, so I told him that Requilibrium was all part of an art project. Once I explained to him what I was actually doing he laughed, patted me on the back and said he was sorry for threatening me. 

 

I realize that ultimately the responses don't tell you everything about the way Britain perceives religious beliefs, the right to preach about them and issues surrounding this, however that's not what I set out to do. I don't want to find an answer as to how we should all be able to accept people's different religious beliefs and live peacefully within a multi-faith society because quite frankly I don't think there is a clear answer. More importantly I don't ever see this happening in the future. But one thing I do know from completing this project, is that we must at least be more accepting of each others different beliefs and try to understand them on a better level so that we don't jump to conclusions through social stereotypes of different beliefs. We are all entitled to our opinions within a democracy, but we should not condemn certain beliefs because we are angered by them and disagree with them. We have to understand that, whether your beliefs are deemed moderate or extreme, we all feel passionate about our beliefs and will defend them. Hence why essentially we are all as arrogant as each other. But it is by realizing this that we are should be able to place all beliefs on an equal level.

The project does however focus on some extremely complex issues and my last statement can in fact appear quite contradicting to the point I was trying to make. How can I say that we should be accepting of each others beliefs and yet believe that it is right to do this because I feel that it is right? I guess that what ever we choose to believe in it is going to inevitably be flawed. So does this mean we should stop believing in everything and let society come to a stand still, ruled by chaos and eventually deteriorate? Quite honestly, I don't know. But in my opinion it is the job of the artist not to provide the answer, but to ask the questions.

  http://requilibrium.tumblr.com/

http://lewistoumazou.wix.com/requilibrium

Oscar Sancho Nin

Oscar Sancho Nin

The Black Hole

I recently discovered the work of the Spanish painter Oscar Sancho Nin and was mesmerised by his work. His paintings have an immediacy to them, like the abrupt realisation of pain and suffering. It isn't hard to work out which artists have inspired him; Francis Bacon, Picasso and Goya are instantly recognisable. Nin states himself that these artists, among others, are major influences on his approach to painting.

 His paintings are subjects of his own imagination and subconscious; diving into the dark corners of his mind and swimming about for inspiration. For this reason Nins' paintings are highly personal, I don't think they necessarily need to be understood or overly analysed, you simply need to allow the paintings to scream for themselves. Many artists have used themselves and their subconscious as the basis of their artwork, and I feel Oscar Sancho Nin is on path to following in the footsteps of some of his own biggest artistic influences.

Five O'clock

His painting 'Black Hole' (featured at the top of this post) has the ability to make the viewer feel uncomfortable with what they are seeing. He focuses on social taboos such as sex, death and violence in a very direct manner. The character in 'Black Hole' bends over in a grotesque subversive manner, almost like a man having his first prostate exam. The asshole of the character pays a similar resemblance to that of a pig’s snout, which seems fitting to the large abstract woman and her piggish pink skin. The painting makes no attempt to mask any taboo or hide any evil, it is in its rawest form, perhaps even glorified by the vibrant colours of orange and pink.

Similarly in 'Five O'clock', Nin simply allows his dark repressed thoughts to flow outwards onto the canvas. There is an ambiance of violent barbaric tension illustrated by the exploding hand. Like a horror movie you want to look away but you can't. Nin masters the ability to disgust, intrigue and indulge his viewer.

The Candidate

 Whilst I was admittedly instantly drawn to his work because I adore this style of  abstract figurative painting I must pass my own criticism of his work. Yes his paintings have the power to make the viewer feel a strong sense of curiosity, fear and repulsion, however my main issue with his work is that it is far too similar of the style of Francis Bacon and Picasso. Nin's characters all bear an uncanny resemblance to that of the figures in Francis Bacon's paintings. For example in his painting 'The Candidate', the way in which he paints the teeth, the small bright dots of white, appear to be exactly the same as the teeth of any one of Francis Bacon's tormented figures. Nin's recurring use of bold colours are too close to those of Picasso's palette and colour scheme.

 It isn't just these small, yet clear, resemblances to other artists; his artwork is ultimately lacking something. To me this is that he needs to experiment more with a variety of elements and subjects in his work, as to build up a dramatic scene. Through integrating different characters and spaces his work can be given more of a context and meaning, it will become more layered and less simplified. Whilst his rather minimalist approach does seem to have an impact, I feel he is avoiding territory which will add maturity and drama to his paintings.

Francis Bacon - Three Studies for Figures at the Base of Crucifixion

Perhaps I am just nitpicking now, but what is clear to me is that Nin must try to separate his approach to painting from that of his artistic influences. It is important for all artists to be inspired by the works of others and use this as a source to develop their style, however the artist has to recognise that they must create their own approach and style to art separate to those of their inspirations. Nevertheless, I do not see this as a criticism of Nin's work, more an observation which will inevitably be overcome by Nin himself. It is the natural development of an artist to eventually detach their style from other artistic influences so that it becomes more individual and original; building a sense of artistic identity. Give Oscar Sancho Nin more time to discover and define his style and I think we will be seeing a lot more of his work on an international scale.

http://www.oscarsanchonin.com/

Share your own opinion of Oscar Sancho Nins' art and whether you agree or disagree with what I had to say.

Requilibrium - Creation of 'The Messiah'

Requilibrium - Creation of 'The Messiah'

http://lewistoumazou.wix.com/requilibrium

After clarifying and publishing my religious manifesto I needed to begin working on the visual and performance elements of Requilibrium. Through the influence of my research into religious and cult leaders, I wanted to focus on building a character who was the leader of Requilibrium. Through simply creating a leader, whom I openly stated obtained a superior status to any other member of Requilibrium, I formed a contradiction which completely demolished the principle of equality. I wasn't just aiming to inform the viewer that there are contradictions and flaws within any moral belief system, I was trying to get the viewer to question the striking similarities among all belief religions and cults. By exaggerating these contradictions I aimed at targeting the strictest of religious followers, who to some might be deemed as purely arrogant, and making it clear that despite what our beliefs may be we must be accepting of all beliefs. 

My inspiration for the character of 'The Messiah' came from a combination of influences. I aimed at creating a character who obtained a quiet wisdom about himself, yet had a charming intellectual charisma. Contrasting to this would be a layer of satire towards 'The Messiah', whilst obtaining quite attractive qualities in a leader he is ultimately flawed by his own blind arrogance in the belief that he is universally correct in everything he says. Therefore when performing as the Messiah I tried to emulate these characteristics, however I realised that a lot of judgement and perception of 'The Messiah' would be initially based on his appearance.

I set to work creating an an appearance which highlighted the characteristics of status of 'The Messiah', whilst creating obvious satirical undertones. The result of which was a combination of the clothes of a prophet, catholic priest and notorious political leaders such as Hitler. Instead of a classical robe I used a dressing gown, this still carried a noticeable air of wisdom and authority; however, the informal use of a dressing gown mocked 'The Messiah's' and challenged his wisdom. The rest of his outfit remained formal in order to create a sense of unquestionable authority. The reason I integrated sunglasses into his appearance was to radiate a feeling of mystery behind the character, but it also seemed to help tie together an absurd character who's appearance would make most initially laugh. I made 'The Messiah' bare footed in order to present him as a leader of men who stuck to his principle of equality, a conscious decision to lower his status to those of his followers. Yet this simply contrasted with the rest of his outfit which illustrated his own importance and significance, connoting a sense of hypocrisy.

The reason the creation of a defined and distinct figure within Requilibrium was so crucial was because I wanted to take my religion to the public, not simply by the use of social media but also through a physical public performance. Therefore by acting as the lead figure of my religion/cult I was able to create a scenario which allowed me to openly explore the issue of absolute belief within your own religion or morality. I created a character the general public could respond to without the influence of knowing he was the creation of an art project. Therefore their responses contained more validity in terms of what I could gather from the meaning behind them and what this can tell us about perceptions of religious beliefs.