Decomposing Trees

Edward Hopper has to be one of my favourite artists. I was fortunate enough to be in Washington D.C. last year when the National Gallery of Art had a retrospective of Edward Hopper's most famous works.

David Masciotra has a feature in Popmatters discussing how Hopper's work represents the flipside of the American dream. In Nighthawks, one can sense the isolation of modern society and the costs of 'rugged individualism' that permeates the American dream.

Despite being associated with Americana, there is something universal to Nighthawks and Masciotra's thoughts. It's also strange how a painting from 1942 can sum up the alienation of contemporary life.

It's a commonly stated that we live in an increasingly globalised world with a greater focus on individualism. We are told we can do what we want, become anything and indulge in the excesses of consumption to our hearts content. There is much rhetoric about empowerment through economic freedom and choice yet paradoxically, alienation thrives.

Despite growing interconnectedness there is an underlying sense of detachment from community. Collectivism has been downgraded to being an aggregate of individual consumers preferences. At times, there seems to be no limit to commodification and debasement of meaning or value. The limitless possibilities that were promised seem to be far away and even the simple things that one expected like buying a home are becoming more and more unattainable.

Masciotra argues that the realism exemplified in Nighthawks provides a stark mirror to society. The patrons at the diner seem to be in an existential void. Detached from their surroundings and left aimless by the sullen falsities of the dreams that people were sold, they're unsure and uncertain about the future, only knowing what is there in front of them in that moment.

If Nighthawks mirrors society, it makes one wonder; deep down are we all just nighthawks?