The project consists of two photographs that form a diptych. The title refers to the seemingly safe world in which we live and in which we believe that we have everything under control. At least that is the impression we have. Our homes, our lives, are our little kingdoms in which we rule as rulers. As the saying goes: 'My house is my fortress". This blissful ignorance, fuelled by information from individually selected media sources, lulls us into a deep slumber and only allows us to see the things that directly affect us.
The main inspiration for this project is the Doomsday Clock, developed in 1947 by the Chicago Atomic Scientists and published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in response to the success of the Manhattan Project in developing atomic bombs.
The main inspiration for this project is the Doomsday Clock, developed in 1947 by the Chicago Atomic Scientists and published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in response to the success of the Manhattan Project in developing atomic bombs.
Originally, this clock was set to 7 minutes to midnight - when midnight symbolically signalled the end of humanity.
This year, 2023, the President of the UN Council began his inaugural speech with the words: "We have never been so close to the end - the Doomsday Clock now reads 90 seconds to midnight"...
Both parts of the diptych have titles that represent symbolic hours, an allusion to the clock readings mentioned above and a warning of what lies ahead.
This year, 2023, the President of the UN Council began his inaugural speech with the words: "We have never been so close to the end - the Doomsday Clock now reads 90 seconds to midnight"...
Both parts of the diptych have titles that represent symbolic hours, an allusion to the clock readings mentioned above and a warning of what lies ahead.
90 seconds before Midnight
In the first part of the diptych we see the interior of the palace. It establishes a connection to the famous "The White Drawing Room" in Buckingham Palace. Both are symbols of the same thing - the lack of external agency, the focus on what happens within the palace walls.
In the central part of the composition we see a woman - a princess, sitting casually (and playfully) on the throne, with her feet kicked up. She is looking at the phone in her hand, her smile revealing the braces on her teeth. The heroine takes a photo of herself. Both her pose and her smile show that she is focusing only on herself, on her own needs and pleasures.
Above is a painting, the portrait of a stern queen, looking as if she wants to scare away uninvited guests. It is in fact the same woman that is sitting on the throne. This painting however, is addressed to those outside of the kingdom - so as to prevent outsiders from daring to disturb the harmony that reigns at home. “You should leave my kingdom at once,” the heroine of the painting seems to be saying.
Behind the queen is a landscape - a painting by the 18th century Italian artist Bernardo Bellotto calling Canaletto, " View of Warsaw from the terrace of the Royal Castle". After the Second World War, Warsaw, which had been razed to the ground, was rebuilt according to this artist's extremely detailed paintings. It is a symbolic reminder of how quickly the harmony in which we live can be destroyed.
Two lions lie on either side of the throne. In the times of the great cathedrals, lions, like egyptian sphinxes, protected the entrances to the temples from evil forces. Even when they slept, they kept one eye open. The lions in the kingdom have no eyes, they remain blind to what is happening around them.
On the right-hand side is a clock showing 90 seconds to midnight.
On the left-hand side we see a transparent sphere in the foreground.
In the Renaissance, we find it in the paintings of famous masters such as Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci. The sphere in the hands of Christ (Salvador Mundi) was supposed to be a crystal; its function was to indicate perfection, eternity, spirituality, power and wisdom. However, when we analyse these images, we may be surprised by their representation. Normally, when we look through a crystal sphere, we see the world upside down and distorted at the edges. In the paintings of the artists mentioned above and in the "Kingdom", the sphere does not have these characteristics because it is empty inside the glass.
So it becomes a useless object. This indicates that the values it represents are only an illusion, they are superficial.
The impression of imminent danger is further emphasised by a fly that wanders around on the back wall.
2023, photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP. Pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 940×1850 mm (without borders 740×1650 mm).
The Midnight
The second part of the diptych shows the moment when the clock strikes midnight. The princess is depicted in her last, fatal convulsions, the burgundy curtain becomes
her shroud and the White Drawing Room becomes her tomb. Although the dust has not yet settled, our world has already ceased to exist.
Is there still a chance to stop this madness?
2023, photography, limited edition 8 + 2AP. Pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 940×1850 mm (without borders 740×1650 mm).
