Thoughts on Diorama-Part Two

Many people have mentioned the juxtaposition of the two symbolic objects of devil and small town.  In our society, the devil symbolizes evil and the ills of the world in all its forms.  The small town is an idyllic symbol that holds so many unspoken associations:  honest citizens, a simple life style with no crime, neighbors helping neighbors, friendships, peace, religious community, parades on the 4^th of July, running barefoot in the grass at dusk catching lightening bugs, and so much more that it would be impossible to name them all.  These symbols as symbols are almost dynamic opposites.  They create tension and seem to tell a story.

The viewer of the piece supplies that story by accessing and projecting his or her own interpretation of those symbols.  In talking with various people I have heard many interesting stories about what the piece means to that individual.  I’ve noticed that the theme of the story is heavily influenced by age, gender, life experiences, and whether the individual’s life style is rural, suburban, or urban.  The stories and questions that have been raised are more interesting in the piece itself.  They span everything from whom or what the devil represents to thoughts on what occurs in the building with no name.  Once again, I will invite readers to leave comments on their thoughts about the piece in the comment section of the blog.

As I stated in an earlier blog, (Thoughts on Diorama-Part One) the primary impetus for making the piece was seeing the devastation to small town economies by the recent (and on-going) financial crisis.  The secondary reason for choosing a small town was all the political rhetoric going on with the current non-stop political campaign.  The 24 hour news cycle plays sound bites of politicians invoking small town America continuously.  One reason they visit and mention the small town is to pick up votes.  The bigger reason that so many politicians want to be seen in reference to small towns is that it creates an association between the politician and the symbolic meanings of a small town.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a symbol worth? 

Once I started thinking about the small town as a symbol, I started thinking about a small town in reality.  Are small towns now or have they ever been anything like the symbol they represent?  The symbol of the small town relates to the idyllic parts of small town life, but currently rarely associates with some of the negative aspects of that lifestyle.  As I said in Part One, everything that happens in a city happens in a small town, it is just a matter of scale.  Along with the wonderful parts of small town living there can be all the social ills of our society. A perusal of American history would indicate that many small towns were dangerous and lawless places during the formation of the country.  Only later civilizing influences turned the small town into a nice place to live.  I think that the current symbol of a small town was formed during and after World War II.  This was a time when the majority of the country worked as a unified group and religion and church community provided emotional support during a time of great loss. 

Showing the difference between the symbol and the reality was another concept that helped evolve this piece.  If the small town were portrayed without a devil, people would not access the total picture of the small town.  Most viewers tend to interpret the diorama in terms of opposites of good and evil, but my thinking is that this is more of a yin/yang depiction.  The evil is always there.  It is just in our minds eye we choose not to notice it. These were some of the ideas that came up in the development of this piece.