Artwork title : Idol 3

What is the nature of absolute evil? The quintessential story of Faust and Mephistopheles gives us the answer: Mephistopheles is trying with all his might to poison another person's soul with evil, tempting and leading him to hell. His weapons are manipulation and misrepresentation, deceit, and sin. 

Same as the desire for profit and absolute power that changes human nature, distorting the space around, destroying society, ting between people, turning creativity into propaganda and giving rise to totalitarianism. The totalitarian regime provokes human beings, using their weaknesses  — first of all, playing on the most primitive one — fear: of war, cold, future, and hunger. Fear makes a person show his worst sides, humiliates, and plunges him into that state of moral decline from which he is not able to rise.

The best personal characteristics —sympathy, compassion, caring for children, and love for people, as in a distorting mirror, turn into weaknesses, into Achille’s heel. Everything dear to a person is used for manipulation.

Propaganda based on lies is a crucial tool of evil. Its main task is to soil and discredits all the institutions of modern civilization, to drown the truth in informational noise.

Evil motives turn people into cannibals, devouring each other to survive. A person poisoned by these twisted desires can no longer break out of the shackles of evil, feeling the intention to recruit more and more accomplices to justify his motives.

But also humanity inherit the desire for goodness and love, while the “weaknesses” of a person can become his protection, spiritual support, and strength, and truth can overcome fear. 

Propaganda can only stun people for a while, but critical analysis and real experience will destroy its empty chatter. Knowing her primitive but well-hidden manipulation mechanism, we can confront and demolish her, resisting Mephistophele's temptations. 

And remain ourselves, free and happy, as we see it.