Virus of Dehumanization: Part 2
Capitalism and its Need for the Underclass
As much as we’d like to think of ourselves as autonomous free beings, we are governed by various ideological, economic, social and political systems that ultimately determine our true freedom. Freedom can be too much. The negative psychological impact of modern life is the result of trading in our intellectual, creative, and compassionate expression and unique potential, for the intolerable feeling of aloneness. We have everything, except the ability to relate to anything or anyone. Increasingly alone and isolated, dogmas however absurd and degrading to ourselves or others, can become refuge from isolation if it only promises a connection.
History has taught us many such lessons but progress is usually accompanied by resistance from those who do not want their own lives altered, at everyone else's expense. Who have our modern political and economic trends marginalized instead of protected? Who are the minorities unable to fully participate in this free state? People of color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ, the young, the old, the sick, the disabled, the homeless, the poor, the creative, the intellectual...? Can the entire population be a minority? Can we truly expect our future to carry the multitude of voices whose contributions, creativity and potential we are all currently robbed of, without challenging Capitalism’s need for the underclass and exploitation?
“Modern man still is anxious and tempted to surrender his freedom to dictators of all kinds, or to lose it by transforming himself into a small cog in a machine, well fed, and well clothed, yet not a free man but an automation.” - Erich Fromm, ‘Escape From Freedom’
SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
11:59 PM ET FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
Notification:
Monday, September 28, 2020
Exhibition On View:
October 1, 2020 - October 25, 2020
Discussion Panel:
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Status: Built
Location: Long Island City, NY, US
My Role: Artist
Additional Credits: Curated by: Tina Stipanovic, Diana Alsip, and Tim Kelly
