this area has been inspired by the great collage artist, winston smith (www.winstonsmith.com).
the question:
after some thought about the past generations, i see a trend of having something to stand for or against. throughout history there
has always been at least a war to get people excited.
starting with generation x (those born from 1964 to 1977) a feeling of apathy started to develop. business week recently said that,
"A survey finds job seekers in this age group would rather wait around for employment postings than network their way to new opportunities."
this is a sad commentary on the motivation of an entire generation.
with the present y generation (those born after 1977) i see the apathetic trend only growing more severe. it seems that many articles
written about these people deals with their ability to shop. shop? has the religious or political energy been re-routed to the mall?
i have asked a few young people ages (21-25) what they feel passionately about. an answer i received was an overwhelming, "i don't know".
maria rogal says that, "this generation is convinced that shopping is a subsitute for democracy".
does this mean that things are good? even with all the wars and other attrocities happeneing around the world, are things so good
at home that we have little to worry about? could this attitude be good for moral, public safety or the general
health of americans? is this actually a bad thing? are we breeding a class of people that care little about their government and the greater world around them?
if the latter is true, what effects will this have on the future? does this hand more control over to the government? is the apathetic
mindset of the y generation the result of a return to roman stadium sports - mind control for the masses?
my fear is that these feelings of apathy and unbelonging can lead to cult-like evil. of course i often argue that everything is a cult
(in fact the runner-up name for this project was "everything is a cult"). it is common sense
that most everyone has an intense need to be heard, understand and belong. my fear is that we are slipping into a cult a apathy.
the project:
i see a project emerging that deals with the propaganda that surrounds us. as things are unclear and
disjointed, possibly the public needs something to create a cause to stand for or against. my goal is to graphically use humor as a catalyst
to help the public think for themselves. i am not pushing any party or platform other than good ole common sense and an open mind.
i want to create a graphic representation of the current trend in leader / follower. as everything is a cult, what will you
pledge allegiance to?
if you are having trouble deciding i am building a wonderful and glorious machine called...
the cause-o-matic.
a few summary points:
- previous generations had something to stand for/against
- this generation has nothing
- the current trend in nearly everything is disjointed and fragmented
- like lemmings, people these days will follow nearly anything
- they need help in this decision
to this end i propose the "cause-o-matic" i machine that after the push of a button gives you a cause and a slogan!
this project is:
- a statement about the absurdity of today's fragmented sense of loyalty.
- a statement about the mixed-up, inbred mixtures of things to believe in.
- a statement about how people will believe anything.
this idea came from something i saw once. three stickers. the first said, "no nukes", it was from the 1970's, then i saw one
that read, "save the whales" it was from the 1980's... the final sticker said, "nuke the whales". from the 1990's on there
has been a disparity in our societal consciousness.
click to launch the cause-o-matic
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