#avery b

[brentchua]

casting, nyfw: men’s s/s 2017, p1

from top - bottom WILLIAM LOS @ wilhelmina, DEAN ZRUYA @ request, AVERY B @ msa, ZACK RIDDLE @ img, ROB SPENCER @ major, TREVOR DRURY @ soul, DAVID BYWATER @ dna, and  TORIN VERDONE @ vny

[sprout-magazine]

Humans vs. Humanity and the Pursuit of Utopia

Preserving humans, despite the common misconception, is not the same as preserving humanity. Which is it that we really want to save? The difference is crucial to the future to our kind. 

The human condition is one of suffering. This may be because of greed, loss, suffering, hunger, disease, depression, or any other number of things we endure as a species. But the human condition is also one of growth.

Throughout the existence of mankind, we have striven to make life easier. This quest is asymptotic. Though we may get closer and closer to utopia, we will have less and less humanity. If we don’t have to work, we don’t have to explore, wonder, or study. It goes back to the Taoist belief that without sadness, we cannot know joy. Without the darkness, we would not know to appreciate light.  

The cultural and emotional definitions of our kind will fade. This is the kind of future Brave New World and other “dystopian” literature predicts. However, this is indeed utopia, but not for us—and not for humanity. It is because of this that suffering is assumed to have an almost divine depth. We strive for happiness but allow numbness to consume us. Perhaps this is connected to our desire to be saved. Perhaps this is the birthplace of religion. 

Why do we talk ourselves into believing a heaven? The answer to this is the same answer as to why Christianity was so popular in the Dark Ages. Not only do we crave significance, we want a reward for enduring the earth, suffering with a smile. Hell is a manifestation of our fears. Fear and guilt deny us not only the answers, but the questions that we need answers to. 

Religion and the fear of death is what pushes us to explore life and what lies beyond. Without fear, would we maintain morality? Without morality, would we maintain humanity? Fear dictates our belief and belief dictates our idols. What we cling to is what defines us.

—Avery B., 15