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project description End of the World (Cape Point), 2004

Cape Point, at the southern tip of South Africa, was once believed to be the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is one of those places that reminds us of our transience. End of the World (Cape Point) is a visual echo of that exchange. At Cape Point, I sensed, in a moment of intense spiritual awareness, the meeting between mortality and immortality.

The end of the world, like a thief in the night, can come at any moment. It cannot be owned or known yet, paradoxically, it is solid, ever-present, for the end is included in ‘now and forever’. There can be no doubt that the end of anything has an attraction and beauty of its own; a calm inevitability, or the promise of renewal.

Artist’s statement

People commonly use the phrase “nothing is going to happen to you, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if anything did.” In light of the current political climate, End of the World suggests termination of existence, destruction and abolition. It could also refer to the death of a person.

The end of something is also the beginning of something new.

Of my existence before birth, I remember nothing. Will I be faced with the same nothing when I die?
As a Christian I hope for an eternity with God, after death.
Yet what in my experience or imagination can provide a clue to this reality? Nothing?

How do I live my life with an awareness that the present moment is an opportunity to experience the joy that comes with knowing every day is the first day, and the seriousness that comes with knowing it may be the last?

Collectively, the works shown here as End of the World form a self-portrait. Despite my absence from most of these works, I am the silent observer of each image. My work reflects on my inner being while also relating to larger human issues such as spirituality, mental and physical entrapment, life and death.

With this installation I hope to create space for meditation and contemplation, a place where the viewer can stand alongside me and consider where we are.

Abrie Fourie 2005