Distorted Reality

About

From the moment we are born, we are constantly learning and remembering things we see and hear. The information we receive is what defines our concept of reality. As soon as we can walk and begin to communicate in words we are sent to school, where the educational system is based on archaic archetypes set up by ancient and out-dated institutions.

Now in the modern age with free-flowing knowledge, those institutions trying to preserve their traditions and regulations are slowly collapsing; as students have risen in protest against fees, there are parents looking to home schooling alternatives, and talks of primary school exams being abolished. These conflicts make evident the inconsistency of our society. We need to realise that human existence fluctuates like water in a river, it is constantly evolving therefore tradition must adapt to change. However, what we have been taught and what we value have already been deeply implemented into humanity. The majority still follow these models, as it is all we have known since birth. Change is often seen as negative and intimidating as it takes people out of their comfort zone; we are taught to follow paradigms that we can’t even comprehend. That lack of sense makes us blind to what is really happening around us, but this behaviour is an inherent characteristic of human nature.

Education is just the first. It is there to lay down the foundations, and then as we grow older religion, politics and the media come in to play - altering the population’s vision of life.

In 1981, Bud Tribble at Apple used the term ‘reality distortion field’ (RDF) to describe Steve Job’s charisma and the effects it had on his employees. A mixture of charm, charisma, bravado, marketing and persistence, he had the ability to convince others and even himself to believe almost anything. This ingenious recipe is used by many people of power to gain popularity, with the prime example being Donald Trump and his campaign for president. In his speeches he disregards the presented topic and lacks any sense, yet he is still able to convince and amaze his audience.

It is through our own life experiences that we can begin to understand the real world we live in, and try to dissociate between what is told to be true, and what in reality is the truth. Unfortunately, more often than not, instead of finding the answers for ourselves to both collective and individual issues, we choose to buy them from our closest reality dealer without even questioning the source of this packaged view of the world. It is the easiest, most accessible option but we do not realise this in itself can be an issue.

Many of these concepts of existence, manipulated by systems of power, are no more than old paradigms of what life is thought to be. But over time as the truth manifests and the collective conscious becomes aware, we begin to observe the actual situation of our planet, and can now finally comprehend the perishable nature of these ancient conceptions.

In this exhibition Alaniz paints his distorted vision of our reality, based on his experience collected during his journey through different lands and cultures and the comparison between them all. He uses mostly his own photographs as reference for his paintings, extracting certain parts of information from the original and producing a rearranged version of them. His intention is not the aim of manipulation but to reflect on the personal state of humanity as one single entity.