[OVERLOAD — 2024]
spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 200 x 150 cm.
Overload aims to propose a conceptual imagery reflection on the impacts of hyperconnectivity on contemporary subjectivity. Through the figure of a collapsing cyborg-girl, the artist evokes discussions orbiting the fields of art, technology, and social psychology, anchoring herself in references such as A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway and the symbolic logic of games like Undertale, by Toby Fox.
The artwork itself stems from the need to visually represent an emotional and mental state that is increasingly common in contemporary society: overload. Through the figure of a cyborg girl experiencing a system failure, the piece explores human exhaustion in the face of the avalanche of stimuli generated by digital hyperconnectivity.
The choice of the cyborg figure is not accidental. Inspired by A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway (1985), the artist works with the idea that there are no longer rigid boundaries between human and machine. Technology, incorporated into our bodies, routines, and relationships, highlights the fact that we are all, to some extent, hybrid entities today. The cyborg thus becomes a potent metaphor for discussing the ontological transformations of the contemporary subject.
In addition to Haraway's theoretical reference, the work engages with the symbolic universe of video games, especially the game Undertale. The character Flowey, right at the beginning of the game, utters the phrase: "In this world, it's kill or be killed." This binary and aggressive logic is transposed here as a critique of the culture of competitiveness and mental exhaustion promoted by today's social and digital dynamics.
Overload also establishes a link with studies on burnout, a term originally tied to the work environment, but which today encompasses broader spheres of existence. The work points to a type of exhaustion that transcends the professional, reaching the affective, cognitive, and emotional. The girl's system is crashing — and sometimes perhaps ours is too.
Therefore, Overload is not limited to a visual critique: it is a denunciation and an invitation to reflection. The work inserts itself into the field of art as resistance, proposing a symbolic pause so we can rethink our ways of connection, productivity, and existence.
