I love dystopian visions of the future. Beginning with George Orwell’s seminal piece 1984, I have an insatiable appetite — along with a deep-seated fear — for any works depicting humanity undoing itself.

The Terminator movies are high on my list of dystopian films, especially the first one. Sixteen years before Microsoft scared the bejeesus out of us with Y2K, the original movie painted a dark portrait of humankind creating a computer system that eventually becomes self-aware and (rightfully) decides that we are a threat to the planet’s existence. And so the machines terminate us.

But a small band of humans resists. And so the machines send a Terminator back to the present to systematically hunt down and murder every Sarah Connor in LA County, as she is the mother of the rebellion’s leader in the future. But she fights back against the machines.

So here we are, over 40 years later. In the age of Google, Meta, and Elon Musk, the question becomes, which Sarah Connor are you? Are you part of the resistance, or will you be a victim?

ARE YOU SARAH CONNOR?

Acrylic on paper. Measures 12” x 16”.