BEHEMOTH (2022) is a scultpure and ashtray for the wonderfully exciting groupshow Cendar Brussels in Galerie Zotto, where each participating artist was asked to present an ashtray.
Within the Hebrew bible there is mention of three mythical monsters controlling land, sea and sky. Throughout the ages they became symbols for the chaos that existed before creation. There is the Behemoth, king of mammals and there is the Leviathan, the king of the fish. Fearsome creatures and enemy to mankind.
But somewhere in history this idea changed. While the Behemoth remained chaos and even became the devil, the Leviathan became us and we became the Leviathan. In an age where we sailed the world seas, finding new trading routes and taking control over territories, we felt the power of the seamonster. It was during this period of time that the philosopher Thomas Hobbes officially gave the name Leviathan to the European seapowers like England, Spain and the Netherlands. The question thus rises; who are the landpowers? Originally these were the powers that controlled the traderoutes on land: China, India and even Russia. Then our rivels, now our rivals. And with the creation of the New Silkroad project it seems the mythical battle is at a peak again. Which vacuums will be filled by which countries and alliences now? Ah wait, we forgot about the mythical Ziz, king of the skies. The much more unknown brother to the Behemoth and the Leviathan. What about Ziz?