We Are Stupid
In a world where everyone likes to polish the masks they wear, Robert Panda asks: Isn't the basis of the human condition that we are all stupid and shouldn't we all embrace it?
This is Robert Panda and the amorphic figure he likes to call Stupid. He is funny looking, maybe a little slow. Similar enough to the human body that he seems friendly and approachable, yet disproportionate enough that we can critique him comfortably at a distance. We can call his name fitting, perhaps laugh at him a little. However, upon a closer look one thing becomes very clear very quickly: We are stupid, and stupid is us.
Robert Panda and his amorphic figure, Stupid. Available via Robert Panda's Instagram. Picture taken by @josepandolucas. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
At least, that is the premise of Robert Panda’s philosophy of the world. Through his art project “The Stupid People Project,” he aims to hold a mirror to society, revealing to us the human condition as fundamentally apathetic, oblivious, and mindless. According to his website’s about page, the definition of stupidity is vast and can range from “simple mental slowness to downright idiocy, the concept can express either a temporary quality or state bought on by certain factors, or a permanent, unresolvable condition.” He contends that “there is no limit to people’s stupidity. Being stupid is stupid. All people are different, yet all people are stupid. And when I say people, I mean everyone. Including myself. It is time to embrace this stupidity of ours with open arms.” This also means acknowledging our position in the world in order to hold us accountable and question why people have a tendency to project their flaws, externalize blame, and become paralyzed through political and social apathy.
Some of the earlier installations featured Stupid posing outside landfills around Portugal. Instances of this include the first project in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, in 2011 and most notably Azores in 2013. What began as criticism of “consumerism and waste” has flourished into a project charting “human interaction” and connectivity. These serendipitous interactions, in the form of picture-taking, redefine the artwork, resulting in the co-production of the true art piece. It is a form of active engagement that works against apathy.
Two versions of Stupid. Available via Robert Panda's Instagram and Website. The picture on the left was taken by @ruipbsoares. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
These installations have been replicated worldwide, each time Stupid is dressed in different patterns and colors, from Lisbon to Paris, from Dakar to London. He is placed in parks, in shopping malls, in museums, in train stations, and even in shipyards. Sometimes, as in the case of the shopping malls, Stupid functions to question consumerism and capitalism's deep-seatedness in our behavior. In other instances, Stupid has been dressed up in the EU flag colors and placed on a park bench in the UK with a cardboard poster stating: “free transition hugs” as a commentary on Brexit. Pictures taken by those who encounter Stupid are collected by Robert Panda and were featured in the R9005 installation in Lisbon to display the far reach Stupid has had.
The picture on the right features Stupid in Senegal, in collaboration with @festecolart. The picture on the right depicts Brexit Stupid. Available via Robert Panda's Instagram. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
His most recent installation is the “I Am Stupid - El Corte Ingles” project in which Stupid was positioned in various public spaces, like department stores. To protest the “divorce” of public spaces defined by commercial value and art, Robert Panda makes a grander commentary on the perceived depreciation of the value of urban art. By placing his art in accessible spaces, Robert Panda brings back public spaces to the people, abolishing in the process the elitism of high and low art pushed by institutions.
