nova insula Utopia
new world order
"De ellende komt nooit van de stratenmaker of de vuilnisophaler, maar altijd van hoogopgeleide intellectuelen. Die willen een utopie vestigen en zijn bereid om daarvoor elke prijs te betalen: vooral door anderen" (rabbijn Tamarah Benima) "The misery never comes from the road builder or the garbage collector, but always from highly educated intellectuals. They want to establish a utopia and are prepared to pay any price for it: especially through others" (Rabbi Tamarah Benima)
The painting "Utopia" (2016, acrylic on canvas) is part of Jan Theuninck's series addressing authoritarianism and societal control, listed alongside related works such as "Threat" (2016), "Conformity" (2017), "Brainwashing" (2018), and "The Culture of Learned Helplessness" (2011). It critiques the dangers of utopian ideologies that evolve into dystopian realities, often at great human cost. The work is associated with a quote from Dutch Rabbi Tamarah Benima: "They want to establish a utopia and are prepared to pay any price for it: especially through others." This statement underscores the ethical and human toll of pursuing idealized societies, echoing critiques of historical utopian experiments like those in totalitarian regimes.Regarding psychology, Theuninck's broader oeuvre incorporates psychological concepts, such as conformity (social pressure to align with group norms, as in Solomon Asch's experiments), brainwashing (manipulative indoctrination), and learned helplessness (a state of passive resignation from repeated adversity, coined by psychologist Martin Seligman). In the context of "Utopia," these tie into the psychological dynamics of utopian thinking: how individuals and groups may embrace grand visions of perfection, leading to obedience, groupthink, and the "banality of evil" (another Theuninck painting title, referencing Hannah Arendt's idea of ordinary people enabling atrocities through unthinking compliance). Rabbi Benima's quote highlights a related psychological facet—the cognitive dissonance or moral disengagement that allows people to impose costs on others for an abstract ideal, akin to phenomena studied in social psychology like bystander effect or authoritarian personality traits. This aligns with discussions in Holocaust-related literature (which Benima has engaged with) on the psychology of discrimination, obedience vs. resistance, and intergenerational trauma in second-generation Jewish communities.
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"De ellende komt nooit van de stratenmaker of de vuilnisophaler, maar altijd van hoogopgeleide intellectuelen. Die willen een utopie vestigen en zijn bereid om daarvoor elke prijs te betalen: vooral door anderen" (rabbijn Tamarah Benima) "The misery never comes from the road builder or the garbage collector, but always from highly educated intellectuals. They want to establish a utopia and are prepared to pay any price for it: especially through others" (Rabbi Tamarah Benima)
The painting "Utopia" (2016, acrylic on canvas) is part of Jan Theuninck's series addressing authoritarianism and societal control, listed alongside related works such as "Threat" (2016), "Conformity" (2017), "Brainwashing" (2018), and "The Culture of Learned Helplessness" (2011). It critiques the dangers of utopian ideologies that evolve into dystopian realities, often at great human cost. The work is associated with a quote from Dutch Rabbi Tamarah Benima: "They want to establish a utopia and are prepared to pay any price for it: especially through others." This statement underscores the ethical and human toll of pursuing idealized societies, echoing critiques of historical utopian experiments like those in totalitarian regimes.Regarding psychology, Theuninck's broader oeuvre incorporates psychological concepts, such as conformity (social pressure to align with group norms, as in Solomon Asch's experiments), brainwashing (manipulative indoctrination), and learned helplessness (a state of passive resignation from repeated adversity, coined by psychologist Martin Seligman). In the context of "Utopia," these tie into the psychological dynamics of utopian thinking: how individuals and groups may embrace grand visions of perfection, leading to obedience, groupthink, and the "banality of evil" (another Theuninck painting title, referencing Hannah Arendt's idea of ordinary people enabling atrocities through unthinking compliance). Rabbi Benima's quote highlights a related psychological facet—the cognitive dissonance or moral disengagement that allows people to impose costs on others for an abstract ideal, akin to phenomena studied in social psychology like bystander effect or authoritarian personality traits. This aligns with discussions in Holocaust-related literature (which Benima has engaged with) on the psychology of discrimination, obedience vs. resistance, and intergenerational trauma in second-generation Jewish communities.
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Modern totalitarianism uses data, surveillance, and algorithms to enforce compliance, potentially leading to transhumanism (merging humans with technology for "utopia").
cfr Prof. Mattias Desmet
cfr Prof. Mattias Desmet
