Art by Truls Espedal

In a society which alienates and where the things we buy are used as signs of the consumer’s prestige, rank and social status, appearance has become more and more important. Not only the apperance of our commodities, but also the way we present ourselves the way we look, how we dress, jewellery, tattoos, hair and so on.

Then considering the ever increasing use of communication technology, where it is surface, visual appearance, that is presented;

It is quite clear that it plays a major part in focusing on this. An example of this would be that in modern times it has become common trying to change if you are not happy about your selves. In this context the television offers multiple alternative “identities” people can copy or adopt. This process can be repeated a countless times, which makes the identity copied or adopted more of a show towards others rather then the real you.

This tendency to make judgements based on an appearance, and appearance often striving for perfection, is to reject or forget the whole.

The basis for “Perfect Human” is to get behind the mask, break the surface and get to the “naked” human, expressing feelings and states of mind normally covered or suppressed. This project mostly deals with the melancholic, darker thoughts and moods. These themes have been, and to a certain extent still is, a tabu and have been killed by silence in modern Norway.

This mentality is neither healthy nor rational, and eventually not representative for a “mentally modern” society. “Darker” thoughts and feelings are of equal importance as others and govern major parts of our everyday lives.