South Australian surrealist artist Andrew Baines gathered 40 Philosophy students at Sydney’s Coogee Beach for his installation, The Search For Happiness, creating a powerful visual metaphor for happiness as a state of mind, and the peer pressures young people are confronted with.
"Youngsters today are mentally bogged down with pressure to fulfill so many roles - popular, slim, intelligent, successful, rich, famous and perfect. Society has lost touch of the basic mental base, that is happiness."
The performance required its teenage participants to stand still for half an hour at a beach for a cold winter’s sunrise.
The students wore suits and top hats, and stood on clear storage containers to give an illusion of standing on water. Directed by Baines, they held telescopes whilst looking out to the open sea to symbolize their search for happiness.
The Search For Happiness is just the latest among a series of surrealist installations by Andrew Baines. His other project, Why Are We Here?, is featured at Soho Galleries in Sydney from August 1 - September 3, 2015.