COLLECTIVE DEMENTIA: A GIFT FROM GOD FOR THOSE IN POWER - Reflextions on the undercurrent - The course of the ‘River Meuse/Maas’ as a metaphor for tacitly letting drift away the right to existence of ‘The Same’ and ‘The Other’.
Texts incorporated into an art installation:
I THINK, THEREFORE I AM
What does 'The Self' mean, does 'The Self' correspond to my mirror image, do I look like photographs taken of me?
Does 'The Self' exist thanks to 'I think, therefore I am', or do I exist because the other sees me and assigns a value to me?
What is actually the meaning of this value, if every discourse has its own value system?
If values evolve over time, why are there still religious dogmas that are frozen in time?
CHAPEAU DIDEROT ("hats off to Denis Diderot”)
Denis Diderot, philosopher and writer, who, just like 'The Meuse', was born in France on the plateau of Langres, was a radical atheist. He considered religion a source of intolerance and violence.
His idea was to take away fears of the unknown by sharing knowledge, with the goal of improving and enlightening the world.
This Encyclopedia, containing 'all' knowledge, was meant to liberate thought from religious, dogmatic, and corresponding moral constraints.
HEIL TRUTH SOCIAL
Unfortunately, the majority of people appear unable to distinguish between fact and fiction, or true and false, based on the information provided.
When, guided by algorithms, people can no longer verify anything, they can no longer form an opinion; they are thereby robbed of their ability to act, think, and judge.
We, 'humanity', desperately try to leave traces behind, so we can prove and remember our existence.
We save our traces, our precious moments, in the memory banks of Big Tech companies.
However, they possess the key and can steal, modify, or even erase data at any moment.
Without memory (data) we do not exist and we reside as dementia patients in the non-place of being, where thought lets words and letters float in time.
COLLECTIVE DEMENTIA: A GIFT FROM GOD FOR THOSE IN POWER
© 2026 Memory Stores_Installation Art_Alike Dalkmann_Rotterdam_Netherlands
Five perspex cubes positioned on a map, following the course of the « River Meuse/Maas » (colored pencil on wood).
Dimensions 100 x 45 x 300 cm, with plinth 100 x 120 x 300 cm
Inspired by:
Michel Foucault
Renee Descartes
Denis Diderot
Hannah Arendt
Hans Schnitzler
Willem Schinkel
Achille Mbembe
Nidesh Lawtoo
Enzo Traverso
