Show Two | 04.17.2026
Reese Nelson
GRAPHIC DESIGN
A coming-of-age milestone for young people is getting their license to drive. So much so that primary identification in this country aligns with vehicular independence. Survival rests in the placelessness of the 15-minute drive to the grocery store and the 45-minute commute to work. The organization and development of everywhere lends itself to rapid, individualized movement. Car commercials have spun prophesized dreams of uninhibited exploration and luxurious comfort for decades, but they only offer an idealized version of what these beasts can do for the modern citizen. Vehicles are symbolic of travel towards a more advanced and utopian future, yet they demand sacrifice in the form of clean air, roadkill, unsightly billboards, and traffic in every sense of the word. Reliance on automobility reveals the need for independence, autonomous movement, and a deep desire for convenience—whatever the cost may be. To survive in a contemporary world, whether urban or rural, one must negotiate with vehicles for their right to move and occupy space. The human body and the vehicle demand synchronicity; I take my car everywhere with me.