The BBC Radio recently aired an interview with an artist, Tim Mann, on his latest project: to trace 10,000 people in one massive piece of art. The thesis is to outline persons of various backgrounds to demonstrate the Connectivity of Humanity. While the artist traces the individual, there are all the labels that make up their identity, but once the individual leaves, all that is left is their silhouette, a shadow of whom they are. The artist can then place these silhouettes together with others, regardless of their race, gender, age, and their religious and political dispositions. All that is there is a line that represents their humanity. It is a political and social statement, founded in an aspect of culture.
Culture, peculiar to man, is designed to create inclusivity amongst a society through values. It is how we form such things as identity, both internalized and externalized; it is how we define ourselves as Canadians, Albertans, or St. Albertans, for example. It is shaped through where we live, our geography, our language, and our sense of history. It is where we find our awareness of commonality and community.
More distinctly, however, it is how we appraise other societies, for we truly only know our own culture, comparing others to it. This means that on one hand, culture unites us as people, but on the other hand, it also divides us from others. It is how we comprehend our differences from other societies. In geographic terms, it is easy to see such differences from around the globe, France and England are culturally different to us here in Canada. But, subtly too, there are differences in aspects of culture between St. Albert and Edmonton, or Alberta and Saskatchewan, because we create these differences to separate our concepts of society.
Philosophers, in our Western world, have sought to unite us through sets of universal principles (Immanuel Kant), but others also sought to divide us too (Georg Hegel). And it seems as humans, we naturally seem to want to be divided. There is some irony in this; as for what divides us is a flaw common to all humanity – intolerance. Many strive to overcome this flaw, and many, as individuals, have been successful, but we still struggle with building this ideal of humanity within our society. Though we consider ourselves modern and enlightened, we are seeing more of this divisiveness being portrayed on our media today. Should we be accepting of this, or is this a deviant behavior, contrary to our values?
The art project being pursued by Tim Mann is a laudable one, reflecting an ideal of a cultural norm I agree with, but then, I may just be biased. Tim is a friend of mine from school, which means we were imbued and programmed with the same sets of social values; values we see present in the Western world, across all our societies. It is one we have defended in times of crisis, and it is one we have all personally struggled with at times. That value is to recognize the humanity in one another.
John Kennair is an international consultant and doctor of laws who lives in St. Albert.
