“The Cyborg in me Recognizes the Cyborg in You” phrase and design was unearthed from the realization that our current dependence on technology has made us all into a form of cyborg. I do not find this dependence to be positive or negative, but simply a truth of the times. To survive and express oneself in this generation is to have a close link to technology, so close it is basically fused – cyborg-like.
This realization was backed up by “A Cyborg Manifesto”, a text by Donna Haraway, and further nourished by some comments on the topic by Elon Musk, who also claimed in an interview that – we are all cyborgs already, while he held up his smartphone. It is also a play on the phrase “The divine in me recognizes the divine in you”, a phrase I would hear often in yoga communities, as it is the extended definition of “namaste”.
I feel that the moment this phrase became a mantra for me, was the moment I decided to live in peace with my undeniable cyborg nature and that of my peers. I chose to embrace and witness the digital and the algorithmic, meet it with wonder, see the metaphors and mirrors in its design… and this perspective was freeing for me.
As two souls uniting, momentarily, in a portal only made possible by digital technology and our ability to navigate it – the cyborg in me recognizes the cyborg in you.
• Bella + Canvas 7502 Women’s Cropped Hoodie
• 52% airlume combed and ring-spun cotton, 48% poly fleece
• Cropped body with a raw hem
• Dyed-to-match drawstrings
• Dropped shoulder
• Direct-to-garment printing
Gabi Abrão is a Los Angeles-based spiritualist, best known for her Instagram page @sighswoon, filled with spells, rituals and wellness memes. She is a co-host on Illusion Pod and has been featured in The Outline and The Atlantic.
