Faced with more information than any individual can process in full, we are forced to decide what is crucial to attend to and what can be neglected. How is it that we select what is important? How can I possibly trust my own judgment? 

 

The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, a 16th Century Dutch painting on view at the RISD Museum, captures this dilemma with eerie precision. Packed with lavishly painted bodies, the marriage it depicts embodies chaos and inversion of purpose. Furious at not receiving an invitation, Eris, goddess of discord tosses a golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" into the crowd. A squabble over the apple’s rightful recipient triggers a series of events culminating in the Trojan War. A bloody war resulting from a mere oversight in a guest list: gut-wrenchingly absurd, but not unfamiliar.

 

In creating The Marriage I set out on a ludicrous task: to “summarize” this swarming masterpiece. If the Painting’s essence was its complexity, how could I possibly reduce it? Rolling in inefficiency and indulging distraction, the resulting painting whines loudly about the absurdity of choice…but ultimately gives in.