We live in a world where we can’t avoid media to survive. We’ve well adjusted to receiving daily news, sharing our moments, and often finding ourselves reflecting through this small box we call smart phones. With the impact of media’s technology, I believe this is a time to step back and think about the way we are within the world which we created.

In many perspective, media has made our lives much easier and efficient. Although the world is made up of people who speak different languages and there’s a physical distance between people, we’ve never been closer to one another. In the midst of technology and media evolving, we often forget the importance of greatest human values. Thinking beyond the benefits, we should step back and reevaluate ourselves on how we are using the media. No form of media can communicate humanistic feelings in ways that we as humans can.

We no longer look at ourselves for who we are but dream through how we are portrayed within the media. We’ve removed ourselves from reality. The concept of time is much more durable; and the environment we create are customizable and flexible. When we watch movies, we often relate to these characters by sharing the same emotions within that scene. In that moment, you become the character which in a way creates another self. Through these shows, movies, and media we create these experiences and feelings. This triggers this idea that we are living in a reality that is far from what we created in the media. It’s boring and repetitive compared to this segmented, beautiful, and engaging self. This could be a great coping mechanism to deal with reality. But in another perspective, we are creating a fake world and identity of ourselves. Are we trying to avoid reality?

Reality is the result of living. I am also the end result that cannot be blamed for others. The distance between the reality of myself and how the media has portrayed so called self gets greater as we adapt to today’s world. In this, we forget how to really communicate.

Eye to eye, mouth to mouth, ear to ear. These are the very basics and most instinctive tools to communication. As we lose the value of these tools, we forget how to communicate with one another. We talk about ourselves like we are strangers in a movie. It’s as if we became the characters from The Truman Show. We create our new selves trying to escape the boring day to day. But the results of these variations of myself co-existing creates chaos and confusion. It’s important to understand and balance myself that I truly am and myself that people see me as.

Charles Lee is currently attending School of Visual Arts in New York City. You can view more of his work on his website at http://www.playwithcharles.com/.

K/REATE is the professional association for art founded by members of the Korean who are working in Creative fields. We are based on Seoul, London and New York. Our members are Artists, Designers, Dancers, Musicians and so on. Regardless of these awesome back grounds, we will think and suggest creative solutions for social issues and help our students in the name of K/REATE.

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