April 11, 2023. (“Are The Rich A Menace?” by Hans Haacke seen at Paula Cooper Gallery, February 24, 2023)

Mr. Haacke, a well-known conceptual artist who shares with me a concern bordering on rage regarding the effects of excessive wealth accumulation on the wealthy and on our world, has created several of these reprints of advertisements paid for by Tiffany & Co. defending excessive individual wealth accumulation.  The advertisement is engraved onto a block of polished silver encased in a velvet-lined box.  In this sculpture, elegant script on the inside of the box’s lid declares: “The 9,240,000 Unemployed in the United States of America Demand The Immediate Creation of More Millionaires”.

Dharmic Art, according to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, should combine the elements of heaven, earth, and man.  (ref. Dharma Art by Chögyam Trungpa, ed. by Judy Lief, Shambhala Publications, 1996, pp. 109-114). These elements share the characteristics of openness, absence of neurosis and aggression, and confidence.  “Heaven” refers to sacred space that accommodates all dignified human expression.  In the example of this sculpture, heaven includes the words describing the value of individual wealth and the reality of unemployment, and by implication, poverty.  This sculpture accommodates apparently polar opposite thoughts.  Among the concepts associated with “earth” are the materials with which a given work is created, in this case, a wooden case with velvet lining containing a silver block.  These materials reinforce the preciousness of the value described in the Tiffany & Co. advertisement.  In the absence of any text, these materials would simply suggest the value of the silver block, but the text with the materials exemplifies the “man” element of uniting the concepts in a single sculpture with the addition of irony and humor.  

While some may consider this work primarily “political”, it nevertheless illustrates  the union of the heaven, earth, and man principles of Dharma Art.

#dharmicart #hanshaacke #paulacoopergallery