In addition to the ten commandments given by God to Moses (prophet and leader of the Hebrew people) on Mount Sinai, there are the five commandments of the Roman Catholic Church. These relate to the moral and Christian life and help to come closer to the Lord and each other. On Sundays and public holidays there is no work and one participates in the Eucharist, at least once a year there is confession, on days determined by the Church no meat is eaten and fasting is observed. Eat 'the Lord's bread' at Easter and finally assist the church in its needs.

The title of the sculpture The Dematerialisation of the Five Commandments in the Five S enses (2019) by artist Tirzo Martha (Willemstad, Curaҫao, 1965) refers to this, but at the same time implies that the commandments fall apart at the moment we take them to us through our senses.

Martha - winner of the 11th Wilhelmina Ring in 2019, an oeuvre prize for Dutch sculpture - does not explicitly indicate what he thinks about this, but alludes to the fact that people often put the emphasis on completely different things during their lives, as a result of which more personal commandments 'emerge'.

The artist incorporates everyday objects into his sculpture. Like a barbecue, afro combs, a satellite dish and a piss pot. The clenched fists at the top of each afro comb refer to the fight against racism. The statue on top was originally made of wood and is sold as a showpiece by Haitian street vendors on Curaҫao. It is reminiscent of The Thinker (1881) by sculptor Auguste Rodin, but in Caribbean form and posture. Finally, in the rubber of the car tyre one can read that the tyre was produced in Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. Which is of course a reference to the history of the Netherlands as a colonial power.

The different parts of the sculpture are held together by the post of a gallows. As a binding agent it is sufficient, but punishment and death are of course ultimately not the things you want them to keep together.