Three Perspectives on the Apocalypse (Samuel Murdock)

Three Perspectives on the Apocalypse 

Samuel Murdock

For my apocalypse project, I chose to create three pieces of art depicting three different versions of the “apocalypse.” Each piece was done in a different style and with a different medium, both of which are representative of the type of apocalypse that they portray. In addition, the style of each piece is meant to serve as a commentary and/or criticism of the way in which society perceives and responds to different apocalyptic ideas. I had initially wanted to include a fourth piece inspired by a technological/robotic apocalypse, but decided to leave this piece out because I felt that it did not fit well with the others. Ultimately, I narrowed my scope down to three pieces, which focus on motifs such as transcendence, liberation and destruction, and the climate apocalypse. All of the pieces are meant to challenge our perception of what an apocalypse means through the tropes they utilize and their juxtaposition with one another.

The first piece I created is a very abstract depiction of a city being burned down, made with oil pastels on paper. While there are clear destructive elements in this piece, I also attempted to include elements that inspire ideas of liberation and transformation. I chose oil pastels as the medium for this piece because of their bright colors and ability to blend, which makes them perfect for more abstract styles of art. Much like in the work of Alice B. Sheldon, the book ‘I Am Legend,” or even in “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” the apocalypse depicted in this piece is meant to show that apocalyptic destruction and transformation, which may lead to great losses for some groups, can actually be a form of liberation for others. In order to display this, simple geometric shapes were used for all of the human-made structures and especially for the people, who can be seen reveling around the fires. In addition to evoking an image of primitive human drawings, these simple and abstract shapes are meant to create a mood of chaos and confusion. In contrast with this, the bright, rainbow colors that can be found throughout the piece and in particular within the fire add a celebratory element and indicate that the people are actually rejoicing the coming of a new world. The combination of abstraction, bright colors, and destructive imagery are meant to create an image that is both chaotic and joyful and challenge the way we think about “destructive” apocalyptic events.

For my second piece, I decided to depict a version of the apocalypse that contrasts greatly with the other two to emphasize the great variety of themes that exist in this category. This piece is a charcoal drawing on paper of young woman with a rolled cannabis cigarette in hand. Although it is not as explicit as the other pieces, the ideas behind this drawing were inspired by concepts from the Gnostic apocalypse and class materials such as the comic book “Promethea.” In the same way that these styles of apocalypse utilize religious and/or supernatural features to express motifs including revelation, transcendence, and the shedding of a “false” reality, my drawing focuses on the more tangible element of psychoactive drugs. For thousands of years, humans have used psychoactive drugs in spiritual contexts, often with the goal of communicating with gods and spirits or achieving some kind of spiritual epiphany. In the modern world, even though they may be used in more recreational contexts, psychoactive drugs are described by many as producing feelings of transcendence or revelation in similar ways. In order to bring forth these ideas and examine them through my art, I made use of new mediums. The bulk of the drawing, done in charcoal, is devoid of color, which is meant to evoke a sense of the “false” reality from which one may escape. Upon close inspection, one can see that the young woman’s eyes are the only part of the image that features color, and the blue and purple in her irises is intended to give a glimpse into the transcendental “true” world that exists not in the material plane, but in her mind. Apart from its physical differences in color and texture, this drawing is set apart from the first by its more modern and realistic style. The fact that the drawing does not appear very “apocalyptic” at all is precisely why I chose to include it, as it shows that an apocalypse is defined mostly by how it is perceived.

My last piece was created using pens and airbrush within digital art software. Once again, I wanted to create something that would be very different from the other pieces in medium and style. In this piece, I presented a perspective on the climate change apocalypse, using the personified image of a melting Earth with a scared face as a symbol of the effect that climate change and human actions are having on the environment. Unlike the other two pieces, my goal with this drawing was not just to examine how we define and view an apocalypse, but also how we respond to it. When an apocalyptic event seems to threaten a society, nation, or the world at large, attitudes and responses toward that apocalypse are typically reflected in the news and media. During the Cold War, many Americans feared that a nuclear apocalypse would come, and following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, focus was on terrorism as a potentially world-ending threat. In both of these periods, we can observe how news and media outlets fed off of the fears of society by fear mongering, exaggerating, and even creating humor out of these apocalyptic motifs. In the 1950s and 60s, this was clearly expressed through films such as La Jetée, Godzilla, and Doctor Strangelove. Today, similar tactics are employed by news and media outlets regarding their depiction of climate change in many articles, political cartoons, and movies - this can be seen in many contemporary films, such as Roland Emmerich’s 2012. To comment on this trend in society, I decided to use digital art and exaggerated, cartoon art styles to create my own version of an apocalyptic caricature. In addition to criticizing the distortion of “apocalyptic” threats in media, this piece is meant to make us reconsider how we take in and respond to apocalyptic ideas.

Although each piece presents its own story, I included them all together in this project for the purpose of contrasting them. An underlying theme for the whole piece is that the apocalypse can come in many different forms, and is relative to those that experience. By taking in the pieces together, I hope that one can get a sense of the breadth of apocalyptic themes and motifs and reexamine the way that they think about the apocalypse.