Evolution of man

It is rare for a settled type of iconography to be of continued artistic merit, but the line-up of the evolution of man continues to be of interest.

In fact, it is hard to find a poorly composed one despite the very fact that its objective is very nearly always the same: Evolution of man turns out to be one of regression as proven by the final specimen; the one which should have been our self-congratulation on how far we have come.

Instead the final one is the worst of the bunch, lacking any means of self-reflection. We know all of this and still it is sharp and relevant next to every time we see it.

How is that?

Magnus Bard, The climate change issue can be difficult.
November 17, 2016.

The present trio of cartoons is classical in that they pinpoint specimens of our day, who are insisting on violence, verbal and physical alike. The past weeks Trump has proven to us all that he is precisely as "fucking outrageous" - to quote David Remnick in turn quoting his (in their own words) "emotionally fucking pissed" colleagues in The New Yorker - as Trump always was on the Twitter-front, demanding militaristic obedience to his own person of the press and art world alike.

What the f...?!

A situation, which ought to be unthinkable and which gives us our iconographic answer: The values we hold dearest are transient in kind and may be lost the minute we forget to nurture them.

Doaa Eladl, The Evolution of IS / Daesh, February 8, 2015.
 A clever double take on the subject, meant to be seen from right to left.
This one considers himself a successful evolution, burning off those, who act otherwise.

Riber Hansson underlines the vulnerability of evolution by way of crossing just the two evolutionary generations so that what was carved in marble may soon be taken down, not even needing a longer line of generations for its demise. Magnus Bard contrasts Trump to those who strive to better the world, as opposed to the one without the ability for abstraction needed for reading. He is all tension and noise next to the calm of the readers.

May the cartoonists stay "emotionally fucking pissed" in the years ahead of us.

Riber Hansson: "I think I have to show this drawing once more"
November 10, 2016.

The cartoons shown are courtesy of their cartoonists and must not be reproduced without their permission.