I believe the most complex problem causing a disconnected world is that we are experiencing an inability to break our own mental models, feel empathy and moving further away from Life’s Principles. People feel disconnected because their story is not being genuinely heard. It is time to take a hint from nature and em¬brace our differing perspectives through adaptation and diversity.

I am a Master of Fine Art student in Collaborative Design at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and my capstone is called the Frames Project. The Frame Project’s primary purpose is to show that even though there is an infinite amount of perspectives seen through a frame because each individual perceives something completely different. One of the most complex problems in the world is people’s inability to change and experience other people’s perspectives. People don’t change because they get comfortable, are unaware and the truth hardens to fact. Although I think that a person’s truth or belief is crucial, I also feel that a person’s ability to be aware and recognize when those truths should be tested is as equally crucial when connecting ideas with other people across cultures and disciplines.

I collaborated with Don Harker, mentor, for the Epiphanies elective at Smith Rock, Oregon. Wood was acquired from three sites. Various flora from the site and was placed in a circular pattern, with the frames on the outer edges. Each participant chose a frame and then personalized it. Following, each person chose an area to place the frame. Both personalization and the placing enforced attachment to the frame. This process is key to my belief that in order to have a successful collaborative, one must be both willing to be fully vested in the collaboration and willing to accept (and perhaps champion) that the concept may be trans¬formed by another person.

Posi¬tive feedback was received from the overall Frame Project experience and people emphasized how it slowed down how they look at the world and mentioned that they began to see frames in nature the following days. The final iteration thus far was shown at Open House for the Collaborative Design program in which an all-encompassing frame was made. The audience was invited to step into the frame to demonstrate commitment and contribute to the haiku responses. My next goal is to collaborate with in the Neuroscience Department at Oregon Health and Human Science University in Portland, Oregon.