Making

So much of our life involves navigating emotions. Our ability to understand and manage our emotions and the emotions of those around us — emotional intelligence — often determines our success personally as well as professionally. As in the series Star Trek, some people attempt to suppress their emotions, like the character Spock, and others aspire to harness their emotions and passions like Capitan Kirk. There are several theories regarding our emotions, from Aristole, who believed we all had 9 basic emotions, to Darwin, who observed 34 emotions that he believed we shared with other animals.   Scholars at Berkeley recently stated that there are 27 discrete emotions. Their list interestingly includes aesthetic appreciation, boredom, romance and sexual desire but curiously excludes envy, gratitude, loneliness and love. 

Regardless of one’s disposition regarding human emotions, I have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t have them or thinks theirs aren’t of the utmost importance. I have always believed that our emotions are the tool we have to navigate situations that are too complex to resolve in a linear manner. They are in many ways the guardians and regulators of our complex modern life.  It is interesting that studies show deaf and blind individuals have the same facial expressions when experiencing various emotions as their seeing and hearing counterparts. This suggests that our facial expressions may be hardwired to our various emotions. The work shown here, PHIL No. 5, is one piece in a series that focuses on the mysteries surrounding our human emotions. This work utilizes photographs taken of my friend Phil while he conveyed a number of emotions through facial expressions.