Finally a clear day in the studio to get on with images for Dan Ariely's the Inequality Project. Being propelled forward today by coffee, kit kats and Ah Um by Charlie Mingus (other chocolate based snacks and crazy named jazz musicians available)
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Schadenfreude or Mudita
Today, starting roughs for images in response to Dan Ariely's research project on social inequalities. The top 20% of americans have 84% of the wealth, the bottom 40% have 0.3% of the wealth. This image is in response to research that states that in a social groupings (or society at large) if one or more people are richer then people directly below them by comparison feel less happy with their lives. This is repeated down the line until you get to the poorest in society. Interestingly those at the very top are the most likely to favour socialcare and benefits for the poor and those one step away from the poorest are the most vehemently against benefits. This flies in the face of statistics which state that 90 % of us would like a more equal society, but I guess by that most people want to be just a little bit more equal than everyone else to feel happy.
Less is a Possibility
Really excited to be working on a project with Dan Ariely http://danariely.com/ the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. See one of his TED talks here. Having read his book Predictably Irrational I have been following his blog, an opputunity arose to collaborate on some research work Ariely has been involved in on the subject of Social and Economic Inequality, this really interested me and I was lucky enough to be chosen to submit work to exhibited in America this summer. All I've got to do now is get my head around this research and produce some fantastic images, no pressure.
