Maxim

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Let me take you back to the fall of 2016; see, one day I got really curious about those three monkeys constantly referenced in pop culture, you know, the ones we see on the emoji keyboard; where one is covering its eyes, the other its ears, and the third its mouth. What’s with that? What do they mean? Why are they monkeys? On a whim, I did some research….

Known as the Three Wise Monkeys, they are a pictorial maxim of the saying, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”, which often refers to turning a blind eye. However, these Monkeys, originally seen in the Tōshō-gū shrine in Japan, represent part of Confucius’ “Code of Conduct” philosophy, in summary appealing to not dwell on evil thoughts.

From what I gathered, the philosophy is that by rejecting to see or hear evil influences, we as a result speak no evil, since we don’t allow it to be digested or stored within ourselves. It’s really about attempting to act and remain ethical, that’s why often there’s a fourth monkey with arms crossed to mean “do no evil”. Curiously, these Monkeys are also a play on words; The Monkeys, named Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru, respectively, all end with “zaru” which sounds similar to “saru”, meaning monkey, in Japanese, as well as “go away”, which is directed at getting rid of evil.

With this, I had an idea to represent this “Maxim”. I wanted to represent the original intent at thriving to be good at our core, instead of the meaning the western culture has adopted for signifying feigned ignorance. So, I wanted to put one picture over another, and then rip the top picture so as to reveal part of the saying that lay underneath. I wanted those clear jagged lines of ripped paper to show because it is a fragile maxim we do not always abide by, just as manipulative as paper can be. Yet my interpretation and focus is on being kind and thereby encouraging those around us to be thoughtful and moral themselves.

Fast-forward to the 2017, about a year later, when I actually get around to put this idea into practice. See, as a student, it’s difficult to balance all our activities and studies and social life, (blah, blah, normal things teenagers complains about), so I tend to postpone doing photography projects, including, once completed, sharing my work online, which is happening about 6 months later. Though, the result I am proud of and I think makes up for this admitted laziness to share my work.

In the end, it’s good to be reminded to strip down to our core person and be transparent about what we believe in. I’m a big believer in helping others, in building people up, rather than tearing them down, thus the intent to display a genuine concern over embodying kindness.