Selected for the 32nd International Sculpture Festival “Camille Claudel”

Upside Down Logic was created during the 32nd International Sculpture Festival “Camille Claudel” in La Bresse, France, under the symposium theme The Upside-Down World.

The sculpture is a direct response to this theme. It shows a human figure carrying a donkey — a sharp, recognizable reversal of what we expect. Instead of the person riding the donkey, the person carries it, creating a clear visual image of a world turned upside down.

As a contemporary artist, Vahe Tokmajyan uses this reversal through humour, satire, and social criticism. The sculpture often brought an immediate smile from viewers because the image is unexpected and almost playful. But the longer people looked, the more the meaning opened up. The work suggests the burden of carrying foolishness on our backs — the weight of decisions, systems, and ideas that no longer make sense.

Carved in wood during a public symposium, Upside Down Logic invites viewers to pause, look again, and ask a sharper question: who is the real donkey — the animal, or the person carrying it?