Mirage
Yasmeen AlAyoub
Mirage, a fictional desert city, was born in attempt of unwiring my own personal background. Growing up in Kuwait, I never realized some of the problematic discrepancies within the society until I moved to New York and was able to remove myself from the equation. Only then was I able to objectively analyze the social dynamics of the society I grew up in.
Loosely inspired by the Kuwaiti society, with more dramatic and exaggerated twists, Mirage advertises a “utopian” community that is so adamant about forgetting all past historical significance in order to enjoy a new and modern life. A main theme in Mirage is an intense focus on public image based on the superficial nature of a society so invested in other people’s perceptions. People therefore conduct themselves very carefully and artificially, as if they were being displayed in an exhibition in attempt of deleting the past, as well as the things that do not fit into this extremely narrow perception of perfection and completeness. With the use of brochures, among other promotional mediums, Mirage illustrates the same values such appearance-based societies seem to promote.
I’ve chosen to blow it out of proportion and create a dramatized self-aware version of my own society in order for it to resonate with people and spark a change within the society. This critical outlook is necessary in attempting to unwire the reasoning behind some of the discrepancies and contradictions in the way we have been taught to conduct our lives.