Subliminal Tinker Bell

If we want to convince mankind that we should downsize the human body it will not be sufficient to present the endocrinological and genetic possibilities to shrink, or point out the amount of damage we are causing because of human size, or any of the other strong arguments against increasing body size. The notion of growth and tallness as desirable is so deeply embedded into society that it will take an immense leap of the collective imagination to overcome it.

Before we can further develop the tools to shrink, we need to develop the desire to do so. And because this desire is initiated by our imagination, art in its many manifestations is of such importance for The Incredible Shrinking Man. Literature, visual art, folk culture, mythology and cinema throughout the ages have cultivated and sublimated our desire for small. Bonsai trees, charm bracelets, Tinker Bell, and the giant vegetable growers all playfully initiate a desire to shrink. Now is the time to embrace and harness this collective imagination as it may eventually turn out to be instrumental to our survival on Earth.