Diversity

When I was faced with the umbrella term "diversity", I was at a loss. I wasn't quite sure that I'd be able to say anything about diversity that didn't sound like an after-school special. So I asked myself - what makes diversity? Which led me to thinking, what makes us all the same? Sure, people live in different countries, speak different languages, have different attitudes and opinions. But we're all human. And so I wanted to make this piece to speak about how people today relate to and depend on one another. The one thing that I can guarantee that every person has in common is the need for interaction, the need for touch, and human connection. It's something that is always kind of taken for granted until you realize you're losing it. Given the rise of Western ideas of individualism and the growing omnipresence of technology, the way humans relate to each other is changing. People are becoming more self-important and thus they think they are more self-sufficient. And we still have the same instinctual desire to relate to one another, but the venues through which we try to make these connections are no longer satisfactory. Given way to convenience, human relationships are slowly losing their importance. I want my image to show the state of human relationships today - people are becoming more connected and yet less at the same time. We put our headphones on, and we plug ourselves into the collective and we think it's a way to be more accessible, more convenient, more effective.. but it results in disillusionment, disappointment. Half-relationships and empty connections.