The Lost Boys
EXCERPT OF ESSAY ON THE PETER PAN SYNDROME
By Drazenka Jalsic Ernecic, Senior Curator
Diaz and Young start The Lost Boys project as a story where growing up is a subversive act of life. The Lost Boys series is a metaphorical look at collectivism and individualism as social and cultural syndromes. The fact is that the fundamental social conflict of Western culture today is an issue of individualism vs. collectivism. With photographic manipulation, Diaz and Young explore the visual language, reviewing evidence of childhood and adolescent gatherings in a group that behaves as a system that shares attitudes, beliefs, norms, roles, and values. We can identify with that because we do share languages, history, and places. There is a link between patterns of our personal life and life in the community. The thing is that humans are social animals. We live and do things together to improve our lives and survive. Does our life belong to us, or does it belong to the group, society, or the state? In expanding global politics and corporate businesses, we need clarity on this issue more than ever. Our children need that because sooner or later they could find they live in a dystopian world with a lack of personal freedom.
