Moving Walls, 2008
350
cm x 200 cm x 100 cm
Acrylic,
Wood
William Shakespeare,Timon of Athens
Let me look back
upon thee. O thou wall,
That girdlest in
those wolves, dive in the earth,
And fence not
Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent!
Obedience fail in
children! slaves and fools,
Pluck the grave
wrinkled senate from the bench,
And minister in
their steads! to general filths
Convert o' the
instant, green virginity,
Do 't in your
parents' eyes! bankrupts, hold fast;
Rather than render
back, out with your knives,
And cut your
trusters' throats! bound servants, steal!
Large-handed robbers
your grave masters are,
And pill by law.
Maid, to thy master's bed;
Thy mistress is o'
the brothel! Son of sixteen,
pluck the lined
crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his
brains! Piety, and fear,
Religion to the
gods, peace, justice, truth,
Domestic awe,
night-rest, and neighbourhood,
Instruction,
manners, mysteries, and trades,
Degrees,
observances, customs, and laws,
Decline to your
confounding contraries,
And let confusion
live! Plagues, incident to men,
Your potent and
infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for
stroke! Thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our
senators, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their
manners. Lust and liberty
Creep in the minds
and marrows of our youth,
That 'against the
stream of virtue they may strive,
And drown themselves
in riot! Itches, blains,
Sow all the Athenian
bosoms; and their crop
Be general leprosy!
Breath infect breath,
at their society, as
their friendship, may
merely poison!
Nothing I'll bear from thee,
But nakedness, thou
detestable town!
Take thou that too,
with multiplying bans!
Timon will to the
woods; where he shall find
The unkindest beast
more kinder than mankind.
The gods
confound--hear me, you good gods all--
The Athenians both
within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon
grows, his hate may grow
To
the whole race of mankind, high and low! Amen.
Exit
