Johann Nortjé
Artists’ Statement
Cognitive Dissonance
The theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Leon Festinger, 1957) is about the human need
for internal consistency. It is the often traumatic and very tangible pain felt when
one is confronted by new and conflicting information: whether it's learnt, taught or
discovered, compromising one's previously existing beliefs, values and ideas.
Festinger proposes that we hold many ideas about ourselves and the world, and that
as we expand our worldview and that of ourselves we are accosted by clashing
concepts and a discrepancy is formed, this resulting tension is known as cognitive
dissonance.
The series of skulls are thus an exploration on how foreign and often alien concepts
can reach a harmonious union.
Wasp nests, barnacles and crystals are all
community organisms/structures. a melding of minds as such, to the effect of greater
coherence for the community.
This is all seen from the seat of all our thinking, inside the human skull. However I
wanted to represent these skulls as something dead, yet not static, sort of when we
look at, for instance, the ancient Maya skulls. There are specific skulls that had
crude brain surgery, where the skull was carved open with implements to relieve
head trauma. However we see re0growth around the scar, which suggested a
successful surgery and years of live after the procedure. These skulls are similar in
that sense - where we look at the death of an entity to see its life and integration.
All the objects I'm inserting into the skulls are organic in nature and suggest that our
road to success, wherever that may lead us, should be taken holistically.