Is This Forever, 2010

‘Is This Forever’ is a painting-sculpture-hybrid by Anthony Goicolea (1971, United States). A portrait of an adolescent boy, symbolizing youthful curiosity, with hands ensnared in a web of string stands on top of a precariously balanced stack of books sealed shut with paint and glue. Books - conduits of history, knowledge and memories – are passed from one person to the next forming a common thread of knowledge capable of connecting disparate groupings of people. Here, however, their potential for creating such common ground is impeded due to their having been rendered illegible. The resulting feeling of futility permeating this work reminds us of the importance of maintaining open channels of communication as a means for nurturing mutual understanding; common ground.