Standing In Line at the Butcher Shop (the Prize Fight). has two starting points, and the comparison between those two points reveal the main idea behind the piece.
On the left there is a crowd. Some look forward with glee, some downward in disgust. Some wipe their brow, others shout. Some point forward, calling out their prize. Some wait patiently, staring blankly forward. The crowd stands so close their bodies become intertwined - arms reaching through gaps, faces peering over shoulders, shuffling, shifting and inching toward the front…
Everyone directs their attention to the prize on the right. A fallen figure - a grotesque abstraction splayed atop the canvases surface. Is it a butchered corpse - the animal led to slaughter or a defeated fighter? Are these people waiting in line for the freshest cut of meat or surging forward following a brutal prizefight? Are they salivating over their next meal or seething over lost bets?
Is it a simple scene of a downtown butcher shop or the wild aftermath of heavyweight match? No matter your answer, a victim lies in ruin while the crowd surges forward thirsty for more.
The piece is not meant to condemn either, but more to draw connections between our natural predatory actions and our rabid consumption of violence through popular culture.
Much like the loser of a prizefight, we pay no mind to the body on the butcher's table. No matter how good the last cut was, we will always be thirsty for more when the next week comes around.
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