Eden (le paradis)
"l'essence d'une chose apparaît dans sa vérité quand elle est menacée de disparaître"
In the left panel of 'Tuin der Lusten' , Jerôme Bosch represented not only the main actors of the Genesis Story (God , Adam and Eve) but also a series of animals that shared the first moments of innocent existence with them.
In the other interpretations of the Garden, Bosch depicted the animals, of which most were symbols of human virtues, in completely different attitudes than that of the peaceful coexistence shown in earlier work.
The animals do not reveal peace and innocence anymore. Some even became hybrid monsters and carriers of obscure and unconsciously bad temperaments anticipating dramas of human and animal history.
In Belgium and abroad ,Koen Wastijn has been collecting products and services utilise the animal as their logo. Products ranging from airlines, stockings, envelopes, condoms to shoes, soap, tv or radiostations often unveiling surreal, comical or absurd associations between the animal represented and the real substance of the product for sale.
He did not stress the vices and virtues associated with animals in human culture, (leaving that job to iconologists), he simply translates the colors of the products and verbalized their cryptic messages such as "DOLPHINS ARE RADIOSTATIONS" or "CATS ARE COFFEE".
To verbalize the product and its logo (to use the word instead
of its image) means to re-write that episode of the book of Genesis in
which Adam and Eve are surrounded by the peaceful animal world .
His
vision is one of Adam and Eva waking up in the bright lights of a
supermarket surrounded by the beauty of a most incredible range of
products making them forget the very reason for their
creation and turning everyday life into a perfect dream as
promised on the back of each package .
"LIONS ARE SUPERMARKETS" .