Small Lie (2013)

Small Lie (2013) is a surprisingly baleful sculpture situated in Dohar, Qatar. Built of Afrormosia wood and standing ten metres high, it has a rather menacing feel. It seems to depict a clown, that cheerful embodiment of childhood laughter, yet its head hangs in shame, its eyes are crossed out and its big menacing hands hang limp. It is a difficult piece of interpret and admire, though its meaning may be discerned in its name. This giant figure is anything but small, but the tiny mistruth it has communicated (or received?) has proved sufficient to scupper its happiness and terminate its joy. Whatever purposeful strides it might have taken are now replaced by these haunted steps and dejected trajectory.

We think that little fibs and white lies are helpful and acceptable, but often they are thin ends of very large, unpleasant wedges.