To Be Human

To Be Human is an immersive augmented reality experience that challenges gender stereotypes by transforming familiar symbols. A single, human trait, white hair, flows through each evolving form: a braid, a mustache, a dress, a tie. Hair becomes both material and metaphor, a shared marker of humanity that binds us beyond categories of male and female. In this sense, the whiteness suggests a collective inheritance — the knowledge that transcends gender.

Layered voice-overs subvert expectation. A male voice describes societal ideals of masculinity while feminine-coded imagery appears on screen. In contrast, a female voice speaks over visuals traditionally associated with masculinity. This dissonance between what is seen and what is heard challenges the viewer’s conditioned understanding of gender roles and presentation.

As the piece concludes, the dress turns and is revealed to be a tailored men’s suit on the reverse. The tie remains draped across the garment, no longer a marker of one identity or the other. It becomes both. Or neither.

Encased in an ornate frame, the work recalls the grandeur of portraiture and tradition. The gilded boundary suggests authority and permanence, yet within it flows something fluid, fragile, and universal. In this contrast, the piece situates itself in dialogue with history while breaking from it, showing that the conversation about gender and identity is timeless, yet urgently renewed.

The final image dissolves. All that remains is the trait that connects us: a single strand.
Not male. Not female.
Just human.