We all belong here.

I'm alone.
Breathe in.
Breath out.
I'm breathing but the beat keeps rising. Annoyingly.
I see a gap.
I fill it with presence.
To not have presence is to not exist.
Being perceived may instil nerves but not being perceived is a gunshot that slowly unravels the skin that allow you to stand.
In films where the world has ended and only person is alive, are they really living?
Or are they living in hopes they aren't the only ones?
If your action bypasses everyone, who carries it?
No one.
If your memories are not shared, who remembers it?
No one.
Be independent. Be private. Don't overshare.
True.
Third spaces. Community. Interdependence.
More true.
Is it a life without anyone?
It isn't.
I need you as much as I,
Breath in.
Breathe out.
I see someone and I smile.

Feels comfortable but feels distant from everyone you know. Feels like you are on another planet where you live, but there’s no way to celebrate with others. Your loneliness bubble is comfortable but it feels like living on a barren planet.
The “golden orb” [person is holding] is the key to make my way back to civilisation but I don’t know where the lock is.

Imagine you’ve been living at home with parents your whole life. Everyday when you come home, your family members are present and embrace you with their warmth and energy. A meal is already prepared, and all your dirty clothes have been magically cleaned, tidied and placed in your wardrobe. Then, one day, you return home but there is no one there. You don’t know what to eat for dinner, and everything is exactly where you left it this morning. There is no chatter, movements or just any sounds of human activity. Just you, remembering about the past and how you wish you could go back to a simpler time.

The world symbolises being apart from my family who lives overseas. The houses represent how, in our culture, loneliness is manufactured, there’s a lack of community.
There’s also nowhere to go where you don’t need to spend money, its hard to form community.
The collage also reflects not having connections to rely on. I live in share houses, where finding strangers to live with is a necessity. I also included my cat in there too.

Sagnika story (transcribed)

In between abundance and loneliness, I sit there in between the path not knowing where I belong. It's all blue, even the abundance, life and happiness seem to lack lustre and colour as you understand that even being in the crowd is all just a masked life.

So I choose to sit there in the middle of the path watching the “no moon” that doesn't seem to know its presence, watching the “fish” that is looking to swim to the other side but ahead to be a food for others.

Watching the “small bird” that has just come out of its cozy nest wanting to fly to join it's group that's flying high in the sky. Watching the “one single leaf” on the dry tree holding itself tight to it, to keep itself alive.

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