Kumi Yamashita's Creative Use Of Innovation In Contemporary Literature

Due to the recent focus on climate change and revived interest in human rights, contemporary art has utilised the principles of modern humanism to inspire advocacy for people’s rights and bring awareness to the negative effects of innovation.
Artists use humanism’s beliefs in equal freedoms and opportunity for growth to inspire advocacy in the viewer. Morpheus by Kehinde Wiley addresses equality through its depiction of a black man lying on a white sheet. The white used represents the innocence and purity not often associated with black men to confirm their worth as more than a negative stereotype (1). It aligns with society’s more recent focus on racial equality and humans’ rights compared to those of others rather than a less secular view on man’s relationship with God. This focus on the more
Question Mark by Kumi Yamashita uses the effects of light to portray this dark side to innovation. The light and exclamation point represent a new idea and the accompanying excitement while the question mark in the shadows represents the underlying negative effects. Yamashita conveys this belief that human values must begin to limit new inventions because in our current world, we’ve been forced to face the consequences of the past’s unmonitored development, such as climate change (2). Other pieces instead provide solutions to innovation’s negative effects, such as the Bosco Verticale, two livable buildings filled with trees and other plant life. The plants reduce pollution in Milan, and this piece of architecture demonstrates that humans are capable of coexisting with nature rather than allowing its destruction while we continue to progress. It brings awareness to the interdependence of humans and nature (4) rather than focusing on a person’s relationship with God or other