“The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.”
Axel Munthe
Cages of the Soul
After attending mass this morning, I decided to go to a well-known shopping mall near my house, looking for information on the cost of Smart TVs to replace my old, but faithful, TV, which is not suitable to receive cable signal after the replacement of the previous coaxial cable system by the new fiber optic network.
Although I went all over the mall, I could not find any stores dedicated to the sale of household appliances, and those that were previously there, moved to other sectors of the city, however, in the central part, I found a curious sculpture that until a few weeks ago, was not there.
The piece represents a man sitting with his right arm fully extended, while taking a selfie with his cell phone, while next to him is a white metal bench that visitors take the opportunity to sit down to rest or take a picture with this unique character.
Luego de asistir a misa esta mañana, decidí dirigirme a un conocido centro comercial cercano a mi casa, buscando información sobre el costo de los Smart TV para sustituir mi viejo, pero fiel, televisor, el cual no es apto para recibir señal por cable luego de la sustitución del anterior sistema de cable coaxial por la nueva red de fibra óptica.
Aunque recorrí todo el centro comercial, no pude encontrar tiendas dedicadas a la venta de electrodomésticos, y las que anteriormente se encontraban allí, se mudaron a otros sectores de la ciudad, sin embargo, en la parte central, encontré una curiosa escultura que hasta hace unas semanas, no estaba ahí.
La pieza representa a un hombre sentado con su brazo derecho completamente extendido, mientras se toma una selfie con su teléfono móvil, mientras a su lado se encuentra un banco metálico de color blanco que los visitantes aprovechan para sentarse a descansar o a tomarse alguna foto junto a este singular personaje.
At the bottom of the sculpture is a plaque with all the information about the work entitled "The Cages of the Soul", the name of its author: Carlos Leal de San Martín, the technique used in its elaboration, which is cold forged iron, as well as the location of his workshop and contact information.
Although I do not know the artist's trajectory, and I have not yet entered his Instagram account to know his work, the title suggests some kind of prison that we human beings impose on ourselves, particularly in these times of public exposure by the unstoppable rise of social networks, which is reinforced by the fact that the character is taking a selfie, which would make no sense if it were not thought of sharing it with the rest of the world.
Finally, I must clarify that I am not an art critic, much less a psychologist, to try to unravel what the author seeks to reflect in his work, however, I believe that all artistic works, particularly those that invite us to exercise our imagination or to question our own daily lives, are welcome and help to enrich our lives.
En la parte inferior de la escultura está una placa con toda la información de la obra titulada "Las Jaulas del Alma", el nombre de su autor: Carlos Leal de San Martín, la técnica empleada en su elaboración, la cual es hierro forjado en frío, además de la ubicación de su taller y datos para contactarlo.
Aunque no conozco la trayectoria del artista, y aún no he ingresado a su cuenta de Instagram para conocer su obra, el título sugiere alguna especie de prisión que nos imponemos los propios seres humanos, particularmente en estos tiempos de exposición pública por el auge indetenible de las redes sociales, lo cual se refuerza con el hecho de que el personaje está tomándose una selfie, lo cual no tendría sentido si no se pensara en compartirlo con el resto del mundo.
Finalmente debo aclarar que no soy crítico de arte, y mucho menos psicólogo, para tratar de desentrañar lo que el autor busca reflejar en su obra, sin embargo, creo que toda obra artística, particularmente aquellas que nos invitan a ejercitar la imaginación o a cuestionar nuestra propia cotidianidad, son bienvenidas y ayudan a enriquecer nuestras vidas.
All the Photos are of my Authorship, as well as the Edition of the same ones.
This is my entry for the Phone Photography Contest. This is an initiative of @untilwelearn.
| Camera: | Samsung Galaxy A12 |
| Photo Editor: | Picsart / Snapseed |
| Location: | Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela |
| Date: | 01-09-2024 |