Age of Lonilnessless is an ongoing commentary on a bizarre social norm that seems to be ubiquitous in urban and suburban America and throughout the world. The work comments on the fact that when walking around people will actively avoid eye contact through whatever means necessary. When eye contact is made it is made extremely briefly and is then often disguised with a blink, a roaming glance, and even full body adjustments like turning away or looking down. Eye contact between strangers is so uncomfortable for everyone now that maintaining contact could be viewed as aggression. People have forgotten the art of smiling or simply saying “hello”. We are taught as children to not stare and have taken that teaching and turned it into a full blown “don’t even look”.
The work was made black and white for legibility, seriousness, and to be as formal as possible while the stylistic, hand written look would juxtaposed the established “accepted norm” with one of more arbitrary weakness. The construct of minimal interaction, seemingly omnipresent, is nothing more that an unspoken rule that often denies people some wonderful experiences. By saying “no” to the world by refusing to acknowledge individuals around you we seem to be getting further and further away from others in a time and in a place where we are almost staggeringly surrounded by them.
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