Is This KAWS Companion a Symbol For The Feelings of The Modern Day Workforce?

One of my favorite modern day artists is Brian Donnelly, aka Kaws. My first Kaws art-piece I purchased was the “Small Lie Figurine,” initially released on 12/12/17.

It currently sits on my desk and I am looking directly at it as I write this piece. I’ve had many thoughts while staring at it but one that came to me the other day was how much the mood, vibe, and stance of the figurine embodies that of the modern day workforce.

It’s honestly really sad, the level of powerlessness many employees have had to endure, day in and day out, for years (2020 brought this to light for so many people).

All you need to look at is the number of people quitting from the workforce (this doesn’t even account for the already high unemployment rate).

By September of 2021, nearly 35 million had quit their jobs, roughly 25 million since April. For comparison, roughly 36 quit in all of 2020.

I mean, have you ever asked people you work with if they actually like working where they’re working or doing what they are doing?

I did that often at my last job and the response I got over and over was, “not really but it pays the bills.”