Jack+in+Chains

Life is the art of balancing between extremes. It is a high wire walk in which we waver precariously from side to side, is a tug of war between urges of the mind and of the body. __Jack in Chains__ depicts man conflicted, caught between abstract human constructs and the warily unpredictable biological drives that animate us.

The central figure in the work is the faceless character standing on a playing card – the Jack of Hearts. Since Jack is a common, anonymous name, this figure can be considered a typical member of the human race. The playing card of the Jack was originally called a “knave,” meaning a male servant of royalty. Similarly, Jack is bound in servitude to the opposing halves of the box. On one side of the display, a gold chain binds Jack to a King of Diamonds, who is surrounded with a variety of symbolic objects, including a dead light bulb, a battery, and several coins. The items represent the trappings of contemporary society: reliance on academic knowledge, craving for power, and the greed associated with constantly lusting after profit. The chain linking Jack to this collection of modern-day ills stands for one aspect of how a twenty-first century citizen is enslaved by an overpowering half of our motive forces. Reflected on the other side of Jack - and binding him with a thick steel wire – is the opposing power that shapes our behavior. There is a montage of primal carnage at work, with leopards, wolves, and zebras killing to satiate their own urges. A seashell serves as a stand-in for the intrinsic human connection to nature. This half of the box illustrates the commonalities we share with animals, symbolizing how basic physical needs restrict the way we act and think. Jack’s appearance is a manifestation of the effects of this violent duality on the welfare of the individual. He is a gaunt figure, bordering on malnourished, and clothed in only a barrel, which is attire usually portrayed in caricature to typify extreme poverty. When we are simultaneously bound in slavery between social standards and basic needs, neither is fulfilled. The two speech bubbles further crystallize the ravages of these psychological hostilities. They read “I’m poor” and “I’m hungry,” meaning if we don’t eat, we starve; if we don’t work, we are penniless.

The boys in __Lord of the Flies__ experienced first-hand the conflict between the opposite polarities that govern human behavior. In the novel, their socially-instilled desire for organization, leadership, and a hierarchy of power breaks sharply against vicious and insensitive urges to eat meat and act independently of external control. This battle of the human psyche is also incorporated in Sigmund Freud’s theory of the forces that wage war in our unconscious: the id, ego, and superego. Jack acts as the ego, struggling to mediate between the morally-driven superego and the id that seeks instant gratification of basic desires.

The items utilized in __Jack in Chains__ came from dusty corners of my house and the scattered wreckage of my room. The idea – mankind bound to conflicting urges – stemmed from my discovery of the figure that would become Jack, with wire tied around his neck like a noose. I thought about humanity being pulled in two different directions at once, and realized that, much like a tug of war, if opposing forces both seek fulfillment, neither need will be met. From this, the captivity of man to the canon of our mind and the wants of our body, __Jack in Chains__ was born.