Amy Tavern
(MFA 2017)
American Values
I started seeing masks on the side of the road back in April and began taking pictures of them. Then I started plotting them on a public Google Map. These “lost” masks have become a symbol of what I see as American values, or lack of values. We are a culture that has the expectation that it can have anything it wants whenever it wants and that most everything is replaceable. We are constantly preoccupied with the next best thing and what’s best for us as individuals, instead of what’s best for the group. We are careless and thoughtless and lack basic compassion. Yes, I am discouraged, to say the very least. So let’s make something thoughtful together. “American Values” is participatory project and I invite anyone and everyone to send me photos of lost masks he/she/they spots anyway in the US. I will plot masks on the map indefinitely: https://tinyurl.com/y9l86578