Digital drawings, Procreate | Sep 2022

This series of drawings was inspired by Āgama, the Stanford prison experiment and the book Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. 

 

I had a feeling, not only do I have the experience, but also the people I observed do too. We naturally become what our role in society wants us to be, and the longer we spend time being in the same role the more we can't help escaping from the 'manipulation' of society.

 

Like the Stanford prison experiment in 1971, when the individuals have not yet been given a role, they are all the same. After they got their titles as "guards" or "prisoners", hierarchy occurs. Everything they did seems so natural in their role with their unique ethical standards."You won't understand until you are a parent" I finally realized how deep this means. When you enter a new role, a combo experience comes in without you realizing it. Because when you choose to be different, there's a lot that will go against you, that's why sometimes we choose to be the same simply because we can have a break. Some of us choose to do that, but some of us do that without choosing.

 

What true means what remains the same forever and the opposite of true means what keeps changing or is intangible in Buddhism. Roles are just definitions by society, they keep changing and cycling. Same with a banyan tree, a bear, a bra, a broccoli and us. 

 

“一切諸行無常，一切法無我，涅槃寂滅。” -《阿含經》Āgama