I realized that we are losing our humanity. Our use of non-verbal language is leading to isolation and miscommunication.
– Ruree Lee
Living in a digitally saturated culture, from a social context, technology has taken over our lives. Social media could undermine our ability to benefit from social connection. Inspired by personal experience and the science fiction film “Her”, Parsons School of Design alumna, Ruree Lee, built a collection, Presence/Absence, illustrating how phone culture has taken over our lives, negatively impacting our well-being.
Born in South Korea and currently based in New York, Lee used her childhood experience of loneliness and loss of affection from her parents, who, by necessity and cultural expectations, worked long hours due to the 1997 economic crisis. Influenced by her upbringing and calling out her own phone culture habits, Presence/Absence speaks to the greater context of the physical harm and emotional void one has from lack of human contact. In a statement about her work she says, “this collection portrays people who have lost the meaning of real communication and live in virtual reality. In modern society, people constantly communicate with others through their phone and try to build or maintain relationships via social media. However, there is a loss of real-time meaningful connection that creates a sense of loss. This results in loneliness and loses the meaning of deep communication and connectivity.”
Lee uses composition, textile and pattern development to interpret and illustrate how our beings are affected by no social interaction. “People are always on their phones”, she says, and captures this dynamic through her design and her own textile creation, right down to people’s posture and phone texting. “I wanted to share the visualization of the difference between humanism and the world that humans created through their phones. When you touch a person, the fingerprint doesn’t show on the skin, but you see it when you touch a phone. I wanted to capture that moment and somehow integrate that into my collection.”
Everything is by design, and representative of the story, including the color palette. “The subdued, neutral color palette was on purpose and part of the theme … I wanted to show the contrast of neutral skin tones and the color of a dark screen that’s turned off.”
Lee designs through a framework of storytelling addressing hot topics on the world stage. Presence/Absence raises concern for technology and the loss of real-time human connection. Fashion has a deeper purpose when it can contribute to our culture, and it has the power to transform. Presence/Absence is transformative because it calls out a societal issue, sparking conversation and behavioral change. Lee’s body of work, although aesthetically captivating, sends a strong message through design. When asked what reads as success to her, she replied, “I think I would consider my work successful when the audience understands and empathizes with the story of my collection.”
Feature image: Photographer, Sukjun @Sukjun
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