I created "In the Kingdom of the Blind" for a show curated by Gregory Robison in Edinburgh, Scotland. The title of
the exhibition was Text Messages, with all of the works in the show based upon a
verse from the the Four Gospels of the New Testament. I chose for my passage John 9:41, in which Christ says to the
Pharisees, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin
remaineth."
The verse got me thinking about the nature of belief, and my own natural instinct to question authority — whether religious or political.
I've always been rather ambivalent about religious matters in particular, so this spoke to me. The verse also reminded
me of the old proverb, "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." One might also read this as a counterpoint to
another dictum, "ignorance is bliss." Rather than remain blind, I always want to peek.
[detail enlargement]