http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9710815-7.html

http://www.chrisjordan.com/ (click here to see what we’ve done to our society)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/donated-clothing.html

People scavenge through used clothing dumped at Pedernales, a small border town in the Dominican Republic. 

A little while ago I found an interesting image of myself and decided to play around with it on Illustrator. The image (I’m a bit hesitant to display here) shows an elated me jumping with a smile in a pretty summer dress. When I had accidentally duplicated the image several times it reminded me of an all too familiar image. It reminded me of the pictures I see of girls at the clubs posing against one another - all dressed up alike. Like clones?

“We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man’s desires must overshadow his needs.”

Marx once said, “What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers.” which is an unfortunate reality. People are conditioned to desire before the old has been consumed. Not only that, but they are conditioned to think that there is a constant lack of resources, and to purchase for the rainy day. Fashion, is supposed to help give choices and promote individuality, which it does, but it also identifies classes, and associates brands with self-worth. How horrifying it was to see the similarities of the duplicated images of myself to an image of girls standing side by side taking a photograph. Have we pushed too far in our needs to purchase more? Is our search for individuality really a mask to our real desire, which is to conform and purchase “sameness”. Consumerism is crucial in sustaining our economy.

In an environment threatened by our massive consumption, should we think twice before purchasing an item that we already own? Would that choice be put into a different perspective if the outcome and rewards were different? What if we weren’t judged upon the brand of jeans we wore and are treated the same despite our wealth status? Would it take another hurricane in order for us to understand that we are living in a less-than sustainable environment?

I, Wynne Leung survived without the internet.  Rogers accidentally disconnected my me, which at the beginning was to a new media person both horrifying and traumatic, but to my surprise I’ve aquired an indefinite different perspective that I need to share with you,.

What is thought of as something terrible turns out to be such a positive learning experience.  Learning how to ask for what I want in life is always a challenge on my part, and how to effectively communicate with difficult people is something that I’ve always wanted to practice.   The “golden egg” of this weekend is accomplishing tasks that were put aside due to my excessive use of the internet.  I did my laundry, packed up all my clothes, cleaned, wiped off a ton of dust from my dressers, talked to my cats, played with them, and as a result felt a deep sense of tranquility within.

It feels wonderful to read a magazine lying on my bed with my PJ’s on and my cat sitting by my side.  The sense of urgency and stress that constantly bombards my veins dissipates as I didn’t feel the rush of having to accomplish something online, or to attend to those “messages on msn” signals or “nudges”.  I felt relaxed, and at peace with myself.  I read, I wrote, and I had time for myself.  My mind is much more clearer now than last week.

After this experience I plan on taking a few days out of a month to disconnect myself from the world.  I feel more mentally capable of accomplishing tasks now that I’ve rejuvenated and am ready to connect with the world.  I highly recommend this amazing experience.  Go on, give yourself  day where you don’t need to give a damn about anyone else but yourself.

Needless to say this piece is absolutely gorgeous, and if sold its’ price would break the world record for a living artist. “For the Love of God” is covered with £12 million worth of diamonds and weighing 1,106.18 carats, which are said to be “ethically sourced” from conflict-free zones.

Click here for full story on Damien Hirst and his diamond skull