‘Yeah I like it. But what does it mean?’ (some thoughts about Jamian Juliano-Villain’s first solo London exhibition)

Jamian Juliano-Villain’s paintings are layered with meaning. But they look cool too. So it that enough?

“It’s good to know how to read, but it’s dangerous to know how to read and not how to interpret what you’re reading.”

So says the Mike Tyson quote that runs along the bottom of the introductory note to Jamian Juliano-Villani‘s exhibition at London’s Studio Voltaire.

It’s particularly pertinent because there is so much meaning layered into Jamian’s work. Much more than one visit will allow to excavate it. So what if you just take it on face value – is that dangerous?

So what if you just take it on face value – is that dangerous?

Recently Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has been under pressure to address the proliferation of fake news on the platform. In fact, today he made an announcement about it on Facebook: “The problems here are complex, both technically and philosophically,” he wrote. “We believe in giving people a voice, which means erring on the side of letting people share what they want whenever possible.” He continues: “We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties.”

I wonder how much we are complicit in creating this post-truth world?

In the social media echo chambers we now inhabit, I wonder how much we are complicit in creating this post-truth world? By blindly sharing the stories that rile us or feed a narrative without knowing the source, is this a case of reading ‘but not knowing how to interpret what we’re reading’?

Are we the hammer bashing a nail into our own backsides?

What do you think? I’d love to hear in the comments below. And if you want to read more posts like this, please sign up to my blog.