Wisdom
33x47in (119x84cm); edition of 6 + 2 AP Archival pigment print. Signed and numbered by the artist on verso. Wisdom is a series consisting of photographs of wisdom teeth. The idea came to Egenes when he had all four of his wisdom teeth removed at once. After the procedure, he was asked if he wanted to keep them, but he declined the offer because he thought they were disgusting. In the following weeks, Egenes learned about the severe pain that sprung from the operation. Now, he can only associate the sight of wisdom teeth with painful horrors and disgust. These associations are shared by most upon sight of a wisdom tooth in its natural form. This series deals with how people evaluate their own appreciation of what they consider beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. The goal is not necessarily to try and achieve ultimate beauty through the works of art, but rather to achieve a level of aesthetic pleasure from what is typically repelling. This is executed by breaking the size from its original form in order to give the object a certain level of abstraction. The objective appearance of the teeth still gives away its likeness to its original form, allowing the viewers to make associations, but the enlarged size challenges the viewer's initial judgment of the disgusting subject. The new format and its new materialistic form have “sculpturized” the teeth, giving permission to viewers to see it as such.
Wisdom
33x47in (119x84cm); edition of 6 + 2 AP Archival pigment print. Signed and numbered by the artist on verso. Wisdom is a series consisting of photographs of wisdom teeth. The idea came to Egenes when he had all four of his wisdom teeth removed at once. After the procedure, he was asked if he wanted to keep them, but he declined the offer because he thought they were disgusting. In the following weeks, Egenes learned about the severe pain that sprung from the operation. Now, he can only associate the sight of wisdom teeth with painful horrors and disgust. These associations are shared by most upon sight of a wisdom tooth in its natural form. This series deals with how people evaluate their own appreciation of what they consider beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. The goal is not necessarily to try and achieve ultimate beauty through the works of art, but rather to achieve a level of aesthetic pleasure from what is typically repelling. This is executed by breaking the size from its original form in order to give the object a certain level of abstraction. The objective appearance of the teeth still gives away its likeness to its original form, allowing the viewers to make associations, but the enlarged size challenges the viewer's initial judgment of the disgusting subject. The new format and its new materialistic form have “sculpturized” the teeth, giving permission to viewers to see it as such.
Wisdom
33x47in (119x84cm); edition of 6 + 2 AP Archival pigment print. Signed and numbered by the artist on verso. Wisdom is a series consisting of photographs of wisdom teeth. The idea came to Egenes when he had all four of his wisdom teeth removed at once. After the procedure, he was asked if he wanted to keep them, but he declined the offer because he thought they were disgusting. In the following weeks, Egenes learned about the severe pain that sprung from the operation. Now, he can only associate the sight of wisdom teeth with painful horrors and disgust. These associations are shared by most upon sight of a wisdom tooth in its natural form. This series deals with how people evaluate their own appreciation of what they consider beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. The goal is not necessarily to try and achieve ultimate beauty through the works of art, but rather to achieve a level of aesthetic pleasure from what is typically repelling. This is executed by breaking the size from its original form in order to give the object a certain level of abstraction. The objective appearance of the teeth still gives away its likeness to its original form, allowing the viewers to make associations, but the enlarged size challenges the viewer's initial judgment of the disgusting subject. The new format and its new materialistic form have “sculpturized” the teeth, giving permission to viewers to see it as such.