Description
Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know.
–Socrates
Part of the Socratic Dialogue Series. Created for solo museum exhibition at the Parthenon Museum in Nashville, TN. This large contemporary painting by Nashville artist, Kristin Llamas, depicts the Encyclopedia Britannica and a cracked egg.
ARTWORK INSPIRATION:
Socrates’ life was dedicated to truth, though he freely acknowledged that absolute truth is unattainable. He proposed that truth could be discovered through discussions of reason and logic. The Socratic Method – a conversation based on questions and answers – is considered to be the ideal way to get at the truth.
At the Nashville dialogues, a woman lifted up her sleeve and stated, “The only truth is that my sleeve is pulled halfway up my arm.” Next, she rolled her sleeve downwards towards her wrist, “Now the only truth is that my sleeve is pulled down.” But rarely is the truth this simple to discern.
Llamas uses the egg as a metaphor for truth’s fragility. Broken, it seeps into the pages of an encyclopedia, an example of truth’s subjectivity.
In research for this painting, the artist Kristin Llamas hosted a socratic discussion in Nashville with the curator of the Parthenon museum, Susan Shockley, and a group of individuals. There she posed the question “What is Truth?” and listened silently to their responses. That conversation inspired the final work.
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Who defines truth? What are your truths?
