Dancing on the Hedonic Treadmill was created with Giphy Arts. The animation played on the Nasdaq screen in Times Square on August 13, 2019.
In this piece, we watch a bird boogy down while a disco treadmill moves under her feet. The cups falling behind her are inspired by the Seven of Cups tarot card, which symbolizes an overabundance of choices, which can lead to confusion and wishful thinking. The hedonic treadmill meanwhile “is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.” As this bird woman dances in Times Square, she serves as a reminder that buying MNMs may not to be the answer to unlocking our inner happiness.
The time lapse video above was captured by Walter Wlodarczyk.