Survive Life
Survival is the only thing on the minds of young kids in places like Iraq, Africa, and even the United States. This begs the question, why do children so young have to worry about surviving the next when other people are worried about their image and materialistic possessions? It’s almost unthinkable of how people worry about their hair while there are children in the world who worry about the next time they get food in them because they’ve been hungry for so long. The child mortality rate in Iraq has jumped a staggering 150 percent and all due to what? Is it because these individuals are unintelligent and deserve it? Any individual, let alone child, who has endured this life has only society to blame for their misfortune. These children grew up meagerly and paid for something they didn’t deserve. The greatest misfortune is that they have been cheated of a happy life.
My collage reflects the foil between two types of lives. The center consists of strips of silver foil to symbolize the convoluted image people see when they look in themselves. The left side represents people who choose to form a beneficial picture of themselves, either by masking their greed and self-centered nature or by putting an act behind a camera. The right side represents people who can only understand the physical reflection, which is a murky and cracked image. They are too young to know why the world has to be this way. Instead, these young children live day-by-day trying to survive life. When they look into this mirror, they are just as confused and lost as before, because life is not clear to them and they have no reason for why their life is the way it is.
I chose this theme for my collage because recently I had a personal possession stolen from me and I was really upset. More than anything, I was upset with how vulnerable I was and irresponsible I was but told me something that made me even more upset with myself. He said, “Everything’s going to be okay. It’s only a materialistic thing.” I’m still upset that someone would steal something from me from right behind my back but I know it was not something to get so worked up about. When I think about the millions of children who can’t live a happy life because society doesn’t permit them too, I feel absolutely horrible. It takes a cold hard look in ourselves to realize how little we really know about life and how sick our perception of importance is sometimes.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Hey Jenny,
I like how the left side of your collage shows girls taking pictures of themselves; it really helps to show how self centered Americans and most consumers in general, are. I also like that you talk about the very serious subject of survival while still managing to make it understandable and acceptable. Great job on proportion and funny take on the sleep masks.
Jessica
December 17th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I think that the left side of the collage accurately portrays how self absorbed those in modern culture can be. Not necessarily just Americans, but I think modern society that is removed from crisis situations like war can turn their heads away from the suffering of others and other issues of real importance. The credit cards on the sleeping mask are genius. It seems money is always on the minds of those who cannot worry about real, pressing issues. The right side is moving. Those children do not have the innocent looks that most American children do. I agree with you Jenny, surviving life is a hard thing to do.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Hey Jenny. I think the contrast between the modern materialistic world versus the sometimes forgotten struggles of the less unfortunate is compelling and thought provoking. I agree that sometimes we have to stop and realize that there are bigger problems than bad hair days. It looks like your effort paid off with this amazing collage!