As part of the Summer Fine Arts Academy, our Middle School students had the opportunity to meet illustrator, cartoonist, and writer Alejandro Toro, whose work explores storytelling through traditional drawing, painting, watercolor, ink, and comics. Born between cultures and having lived across Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Italy, France, and China, Alejandro brings a unique perspective to the stories he tells through images.

What cannot be easily explained cannot be easily controlled. In the age of AI, "67" is a micro-act of rebellion against the expectation that everything must be legible, searchable, and optimized for clarity. Just like Dada, Gen Z memes confront a world that is rationalizing with the destruction of mass systems of order and progress, and reason.

As you entered the room, it began to take on the kind of atmosphere I had hoped for when imagining Life Extended—a formal exhibition and a living room (a room of life) where people could gather, reflect, and share space together.