wayvy weekly //// [what connects us?]
We share more than half of our genetic material with chickens, fruit files and bananas. Yet, we are still concerned with issues of ‘race’ and ‘gender’ and the words we use to describe our beliefs and deities. These inconsequential traits are then deployed as tools of separation, illusion and division when they are about as significant and arbitrary as your favourite flavour of ice cream. It’s far more interesting, to me, to think about how much we all love ice cream.
With infinitely more similarities than differences, why is it so hard to see right past them to our common ground? I’m sure we can all remember an experience where we judged or categorized someone based on something they have no control over. Don’t feel too bad though, it’s honestly just a reflexive response. Our current reality does not at all resemble the one that evolved the brain we use today. As a result, we have quite a few maladaptive behaviours based on survival tactics and outdated mentalities. In the not too distant past, sometimes neighbouring tribes would very closely resemble our own outside of a few distinctive features, such as a broader nose, darker skin or idols carved out of different wood. This caused our lines of civility and division of resources to be drawn along those lines out of fear. Rooted deeply in that all too familiar fear of lack. The fear that there won’t be enough to go around or that “they” will grow so numerous that there won’t be any food left for “us”. A fear we have all felt. A feeling that in fact unites us. And if we can be strong enough to look beyond that fear to the abundance that is the earth, we will see a love that connects us.
Lack is seen as a bad thing in contemporary society. Poverty nearly illegal. But we all know what it feels like to need. We all know the fear and embarrassment linked to asking a stranger for help, from a spare dollar to picking up the keys you just dropped. I dream of the nights where we can all huddle around one fire. The days when we can all press our lips to the same chalice. We are distracted by our lack. We are linked by our fears. We are connected by our needs.
WHAT?
For the wayvywork of the week this time around, I’ve selected “WHAT?”. I love the simple pieces that appear literal at first, but upon second glance there is a thick layer of meaning and additional meaning spread on top. Here we see a clearly depicted city in sketchy line art, reflecting its haphazard assembly and impermanent nature. Large swaths of society are still largely experimental and most of its constituents interact with it as if its steadfast in its existence and application of rules. One of my favourite quotes I’ve heard lately is “treason is a matter of dates”. Citizenship and social fabrics are largely the same. One day its illegal to be black, the next one of em running around the white house with Joe. The two figures presented in the city however are much larger than typical humans and the line work is not only much more solid and grounded, but also doubled up with a pen stroke and a marker stroke. The red vs blue dichotomy (rip roosterteeth) is one that reflects not only contemporary images of presidential elections but also this longer narrative of neighbouring tribes and warring states. One is in their ivory tower, angry and suspicious, peering out into the streets. The other is calmer, hands clasped behind his back, relaxed in his stance and although we can’t see his face, that only plays into the stark contrasts to the other figure pictured here. If I were to summarize this picture in a sentence, it would be “There’s always an us, there’s always a them that we must see past to see us again.” I just thought of that too that kinda fye AND it rhymes. Anyway lemme get off my dick. WHAT DO YOUUUUUUUU THINK??? Lmk below. And no KYLE, I will not stop begging for comments because this is supposed to be a conversation. I want to know what yall think AND I’M NOT TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER. Until next time, stay wayvy <3
