Sadie Miller

Pisces Ascendant

“How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks!”

On a conscious level, this looks like a standard everyday interaction. On a subconscious level, however, it is quite strange. If neither individual taking part in the above conversation is doing “good”, physically or mentally, why lie? Moreover, if said participants don’t know each other, why ask such a probing question? At best it is disingenuous and apathetic, at worst it is invasive and condescending. So why take part in such a pointless ritual?With a background in psychology, I have developed a habit of viewing interpersonal relationships from an objective lens, akin to an anthropological study. The trouble with this habit, however, is that it becomes easy to distance myself from particular interactions which appear to be detrimental to one or more of their participants. Why bother taking part in the “how are you” conversation if I’m obviously not doing well? Given that a lighthearted, dismissive response is required in this situation, why should I suppress my true response in order to not make the other participant uncomfortable?

This absurdity of everyday social cues is what inspires and drives my body of work. I am primarily interested in exploring tangible and intangible methods of representation as well as their impact on the greater meaning of a given piece. Given that one’s methods of socialization can often be found immortalized on the internet, the intangible motifs I use are generally sourced from online spaces. My work conducts an examination of both verbal and nonverbal communication, and how each of these impact their user. The selected body of work I am showing places emphasis on nonverbal communication, examining its ability to deliver thoughts and ideas quicker than verbal communication. I have found making this work to be a helpful exercise in better understanding my own relationships, and I plan on further dissecting forms of communication in the future.