In my research, I’ve found that millennials tried to patch their psychic holes with oversized hoodies, while Gen Z looks for contact points in a vast digital void. But here is the tragedy: when the “Protective Shield” fails in childhood, we grow up into adults who can’t handle social pressure. So, we build an “exoskeleton” out of status and brands.
The Visualization:
Think of Saint Bartholomew, famously depicted in art carrying his own flayed skin. He is the ultimate visualization of the collapsed Skin-Ego.
If Bartholomew is the “Self” without skin, the modern consumer is a “Self” with an infinite supply of cheap, disposable, alien skins (thanks, Shein). These skins never actually graft to the soul. They are sterile.
In my upcoming installation, I’m exploring this contrast:
Skin-as-Biography: The single, painful, real boundary.
Skin-as-Garment: The thousand empty shells that keep us from actually touching ourselves.
Thinking is a metaphor for digestion and touch. If you’re just reading these words without “feeling” them, you aren’t touching the idea. You’re just looking at the packaging.
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