The theme of my bachelor’s thesis arises from personal reflections on the paradox of human existence. The central idea is the contradiction between the natural human desire to preserve life and the human capacity to destroy it. A human being appears both as the bearer of the instinct for self-preservation and as a potential threat to the existence of others.
An important factor in shaping these reflections was my personal experience with war, which significantly influenced my perception of human nature. Observing how people strive to survive while simultaneously destroying the lives of others has led me to an understanding of the inner contradiction inherent in human nature itself.
Throughout the process of working and reflecting, I gradually came to realize that it is impossible to completely rid ourselves of certain violent and harsh traits that are an essential part of our psychology and physiology. Nevertheless, human beings are rational creatures capable of cognition, reflection, and choice — a choice that confronts each of us and can influence the further course of events, potentially preventing violence and cruelty, or at least directing them in ways that do not harm others.
This work is a kind of response to the process of self-perception and the perception of humanity and society as a single mechanism composed of each of us. I acknowledge the presence of cruel or destructive elements within human nature, and therefore I do not seek to deny or destroy them. Instead, in my practice, I attempt to transform these aspects into a form that causes no harm. To reconsider violent acts that humans (we) have already committed, not to erase them from memory, but to reevaluate them personally and socially, transform them, and continue living.
The work therefore interprets an inner duality in which opposing qualities coexist. Physiologically, human beings may possess an innate potential for cruelty, yet the modern understanding of human nature, rooted in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology, suggests that our species, despite its imperfections, possesses the means to suppress its destructive traits. Through this, they may assume a transformed form.