Item Details:

THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS

THE EVERCLEVER ART COLLECTIVE

CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE, 2017

Milk jug and suspended latex glove

Size: 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 30 in; 26.7 x 26.7 x 76.2 cm

Signed on back

Milk is symbolic of innocence, purity and kindness, with the present work celebrating mothers of all species everywhere in stark contrast to a dog-eat-dog testosterone-laden male-dominated world. The best-known use of the phrase, comes from the pen of William Shakespeare in Macbeth, albeit used by the title charcter's wife as an extreme pressure-tactic, entirely ironic, and made by a malignantly ambitious woman, doubting her husband’s ability to destroy others in order to gain the throne quickly. Lady Macbeth says her husband is 'too full o'the milk of human-kindness', suggesting that, despite his reputation as a brave warrior, Macbeth also has a strong sense of compassion which would impede their hostile takeover plan. In the play, the phrase ‘milk of human kindness" is meant to show how she views him as a child who still needs to be nutured and guided, highlighting the fact that Lady Macbeth holds power over him.  The concentration on the color white in the present work emphasizes this piece's benign ideal expression of hope, notwithstanding a real-world reality which may be insidiously to the contrary.