"People were created to be loved.
Things were created to be used.
The reason why the world is in chaos is because
things are being loved and people are being used".
Dalai Lama XIV
Throughout time, mankind struggles with known forces and recurring events that disrupt our lives. The exhibition, “The Dichotomy of Life”, surrounding the St. Andrews Episcopal Church parking lot in the Heights community of Houston, Texas sets these disruptions in images of doors and people at the entry to this sanctuary for peace and reflection. “The Dichotomy of Life”, created by Joe C. Aker, arose from his life experience during the Vietnam War, travel, and more than 60 years in the arts. St. Andrews Church stands for all houses of worship where individuals and families go to deal with these shared terrors.
Looking closely at the images of the people, one will see that each person is made up of smaller images that contort life. These individuals, on the surface, seem at peace with daily life activity, yet, symbolically, carry within them the burdens of life’s challenges that afflict all of us. They carry for all of us such burdens as greed, hate, war, child labor, genocide, racism, atrocities, and consumerism. The Book of Revelations in the New Testament lists the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as conquest, war, famine, and death. Within the Old Testament’s Book of Ezekiel,we find famine, wild beasts, plague, and other inflictions. It is without doubt that many more disruptions could be named. Regardless, time has not erased these troubles that burden our world. The beauty of the images conceals those things that disrupt our peace and challenge our compassion and love of others.
The Tibetan people in these images stand-in for all people of our world. In Tibet, they physically live high above the rest of the world, have adapted to an unusual and challenging environment, speak their own language, and hold common beliefs that have them reflect a path to rise above evil, and to reach a purer civil existence and coexistence with the world they, and us, live in.
The alternating placement of doors and people symbolizes walking into, or driving onto, the grounds of this, or any religious sanctuary, where we seek reconciliation and understanding. The doors are symbols reflecting the quote by Alexander Graham Bell; “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.” As one enters the parking lot, and later the sanctuary, they are transitioning from an external troubled world into a place of peace to regain our footing and reassess and reflect upon the good things they have experienced and been given. Over time, we, like the Tibetans, can adapt to the imperfect world in which we live in a better, more enlightened way, treating each other better and with respect. The installation of “The Dichotomy of Life” is here to set us on this path.
Looking closely at the images of the people, one will see that each person is made up of smaller images that contort life. These individuals, on the surface, seem at peace with daily life activity, yet, symbolically, carry within them the burdens of life’s challenges that afflict all of us. They carry for all of us such burdens as greed, hate, war, child labor, genocide, racism, atrocities, and consumerism. The Book of Revelations in the New Testament lists the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as conquest, war, famine, and death. Within the Old Testament’s Book of Ezekiel,we find famine, wild beasts, plague, and other inflictions. It is without doubt that many more disruptions could be named. Regardless, time has not erased these troubles that burden our world. The beauty of the images conceals those things that disrupt our peace and challenge our compassion and love of others.
The Tibetan people in these images stand-in for all people of our world. In Tibet, they physically live high above the rest of the world, have adapted to an unusual and challenging environment, speak their own language, and hold common beliefs that have them reflect a path to rise above evil, and to reach a purer civil existence and coexistence with the world they, and us, live in.
The alternating placement of doors and people symbolizes walking into, or driving onto, the grounds of this, or any religious sanctuary, where we seek reconciliation and understanding. The doors are symbols reflecting the quote by Alexander Graham Bell; “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.” As one enters the parking lot, and later the sanctuary, they are transitioning from an external troubled world into a place of peace to regain our footing and reassess and reflect upon the good things they have experienced and been given. Over time, we, like the Tibetans, can adapt to the imperfect world in which we live in a better, more enlightened way, treating each other better and with respect. The installation of “The Dichotomy of Life” is here to set us on this path.