*Some of these photos may disturb some viewers. Proceed with discretion.
The photos you are about to see may be disturbing, but they accurately represent exactly what is going on in our modern society. Sometimes, the truth doesn’t always feel good to see, but it’s important for us to acknowledge what is wrong with society if we have any hope of fixing it.
I saw these pieces of art for the first time on an article by Jeff Roberts of Collective Evolution, and had never been so moved by a series of illustrations before. They were made by controversial contemporary artist Luis Quiles, who has built a name for himself exposing the absurdities of society through his art.
The pictures we are about to look at are moving, to say the least. They are undeniably powerful, and touch on a variety of topics such as poverty, religion, sexuality, abuse, and narcissism.
Because of how raw and explicit these messages are, viewer discretion is advised for this one.
1) Poison disguised as health
Corporations disguise poison as being nutritious, and then brainwash us with advertising and propaganda into believing it is worth consuming. Because the government subsidizes these foods with tax payers dollars, they are extremely cheap to buy. Does it really make sense that you can get a cheeseburger at McDonald’s for as little as 1 dollar? All you have to do is raise taxes, lower wages, and force people into living within a very small budget, and you can feed a helpless and oblivious nation whatever garbage you like.
2) Freedom is an illusion
You have freedom of thought and speech, until you say something that offends someone in power. You have to be careful what you write, especially online. One wrong statement, and the CIA will be at your door the next morning. And no, I am not being dramatic. Many people have experienced this degree of censorship over something as simple as a comment on Facebook. In a country that prides itself on its human freedoms, there is a long way to go before we will know what it feels like to be truly free.
3) Religion vs Poverty
I’ll let this one speak for itself.
4) How men are slaves to their hormones
I think now more than ever, men are extremely hormone driven. And because of this, sex is used as a way to influence male behaviour everywhere you look. Simply put, sex sells. It is profitable in a society where the male population has been raised with a mindset of sexualizing women. All it takes is a few minutes of watching commercials on TV to see just how much our society has been infused with sex appeal directed specifically towards males.
5) Camera Wh*res
A lot of people spend the majority of their spare time scrolling through their news feeds, which is a breeding ground for attention seekers. There is almost a competitive nature behind the idea of notifications to see who can get the most likes and comments, and some pictures are taken with the very goal of trying to receive notifications.
Since we live in hormone-driven animal bodies, sex appeal seems to be the most surefire way to attract lots of attention to yourself on social media. Just ask Miley Cyrus. It doesn’t really matter if you disrespect yourself or come across as self-absorbed, as long as you can can see those notifications piling in.
6) War victims
When was the last time you felt threatened by a 5 year old boy, or a 10 year old girl, to the point where you had to drop explosive bombs on them in fear that they will cause harm to you and your country? The amount of innocent children that are killed during wars is absurd, and unnecessary casualties always fill a large percentage of the death toll. In between the two children, Bomberman is portray throwing bombs without a care in the world, representing the carelessness of apathy of people in power.
7) Money is God
Whether or not we know it or admit to it, we are slaves to money. We don’t work for economic advancement. We work to pay off debt and to merely sustain our lives, which literally means we are slaves to the system. Sometimes I will ask people on my page what they would do if they won a large sum of money, and almost all of the answers have to do with paying off debts and bills.
The system is set up so that you are constantly owing somebody money, and because of this we have no choice but to work to pay it back. Money holds more power over our world than anything, and controls every single one of our actions and choices.
8) Fame turns you into an advertisement
Any world class athlete, musician, and actor is being fed endorsement deals left and right. In return, that person turns themselves into a walking advertisement, accepting large sums of money even if they disagree with what the business is promoting. If you pay close attention to a sporting event or a large music video, it’s hard to miss who the sponsor is. This is a classic example of what it means to sell your soul to the devil: Loss of individuality and authenticity for a paycheck.
9) Feel funny? Take a pill
Here is something to consider. The following is an except from an article on Collective Evolution:
‘The Times analysis of 2009 death statistics showed:
- For the first time ever in the US, more people were killed by drugs than motor vehicle accidents
- 37,485 people died from drugs, a rate fueled by overdoses on prescription pain and anxiety medications, versus 36,284 from traffic accidents
- Drug fatalities more than doubled among teens and young adults between 2000 and 2008, and more than tripled among people aged 50 to 69
These facts are based off of legal prescription drug statistics. An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the U.S. every year. The costs of adverse drug reactions to society are more than $136 billion annually — greater than the total cost of cardiovascular or diabetic care. Looking over records from 1976 to 2006, researchers found 62 million death certificates related to prescription drugs, almost a quarter-million of these deaths were coded as having occurred in a hospital setting due to medication errors. How is this considered normal?’
We have forgotten how to take care ourselves, and often times just run to the doctor when we feel something is a little off. Without doing much independent research or receiving multiple opinions from western and natropathic doctors, we accept whatever prescription is handed to us without a second guess.
Luis Quiles has succeed in creating some of the most powerful and controversial illustrations ever. To see other illustrations of his, you can check out his webpage HERE.
