No.99.9

Oil paint on canvas, 2017

During the crucial year of my university entrance exams, the Australian government changed the marking system, setting the highest possible score at 99.95%. This seemingly minor adjustment had significant and tragic repercussions, as some students, unable to achieve a perfect score, took their own lives.

This situation can be compared to the way chicks are categorised on a production line—randomly assigned as organic, meat producers, or egg layers. Similarly, our futures often feel predetermined by the numerical value of our academic achievements. These numbers shape our self-image and how society views and classifies us. In this system, individuality is overshadowed by a reductionist perspective, reducing us to mere numbers, marks or commodities within a larger societal framework.