About the Art
It's become a running joke with a few of my friends that humans really are just like sheep, especially in situations like waiting in lines and walking to assemblies or events as a group. One time that sticks out in my head: Last summer, we were waiting to get into a movie theater. It was a really nice night out, but everyone insisted on squeezing into the small lobby, simply because each time someone took a step forward, so would the person behind him/her, and the person behind him/her... you get the picture. A simple situation, really, but I couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of it all. No one was getting any closer to the front by squeezing in like that, it was just some kind of blind instinct to do whatever the person in front of you is doing. (baaa-aaa-aaaah) Anyways, this situation and others like it made me think of how humans are often like sheep on a broader level, and how I could use this image symbolically...

In this art, the lone Stickman is being carried with the flow of the stampede, whether he wants to be or not. While the masses blindly follow the authoritative arrows pointing towards some false finish line, Stickman looks at his hand and realizes to his dismay that it is now a sheep hoof. Is he becoming one of them? The soft wooliness (ie "flocculence") may be comforting and allow a body to blend in and escape being singled out for ridicule or unwanted attention, but meshing into the group so cleanly ultimately overshadows individuality and everything that makes a person unique. Upon closer examination, the "sheep" are not quite the same (symbolized by the different tints on their coats), but at first glance they blend together into a low-contrast mass, no one daring to stand up or stand out, and shed the wool they've grown in order to fit in.

On a side note, I particularly like this art because even with its underlying themes, I'm highly amused by it... Stickman is like, "what? My hand is a hoof?! Noooooooooooo!!!" Haha... baa-aaa-aaah.

More on the theme of Conformity
Blue Man Group touches on the idea of molding oneself to fit into a crowd or society by using the term "persona"...

"We looked up the definition of the word Persona in the dictionary and here’s what it said: 'The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one’s public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self'" (Song Bios).
-CMP, Blue Man Group founders

Extending on this idea, BMG often uses the symbolic "mask" to illustrate how we all hide behind differing (or even fake) personalities in order to relate to others. This is only natural, that different parts of our being show themselves at different times and around different people, but there is a line between being different "you"s, and being another person altogether. If we try too hard to fit in with, get along with, impress, or entertain others, we may find ourselves painfully distanced from who we really are. In the song "Persona," the idea comes across that the character has too many masks and can no longer find where they end and reveal the true person beneath. This layering of masks can be damaging to one's unique identity, both by distancing a person from who they really are and by creating false identities for the person to hide behind. At some point, the inner essence of a person is overshadowed by so many superficial alterations, that it can no longer be so easily grasped.

"We’ve always been interested in exploring the price we all pay for creating the 'personas' that we live behind in order to get accepted into the giant cultural ant-hill" (Statement).
-CMP, Blue Man Group founders

At the same time, being too tied in with a group may prevent an individual from daring to step out of the group's boundaries. This may prevent some unusually bad things from happening, because individuals "wouldn't dare," but it also can prevent individuals from believing in their ability to rise above the masses and do something spectacular (if even in some small way).

"…men are more remarkable and capable creatures than most societies ever allow them to be. This is not the fault of culture itself, but the fault of man, who mistakes the means of culture for the end, and so lives for culture and not beyond culture" (182).
-John Blacking

In these ways (above), conformity often smothers individual identities.
On the other hand is the concept of group mentality. We may find ourselves willingly bound to our culture, simply accepting the way things are and usually going along with majority rules. Minority opinions are often seen as interesting and intriguing, but also impractical. The main goal of a community becomes to cooperate and survive as a whole, and becomes less about the good of each individual. Communities develop norms and unspoken rules...

"One of the greatest advances in the development of the community arises when this reaction of the community on the individual take on what we call an institutional form. What we mean by that is that the whole community acts toward the individual under certain circumstances in an identical way. It makes no difference, over against a person who is stealing your property, whether it is Tom, Dick, or Harry. There is an identical response on the part of the whole community under these conditions. We call that the formation of the institution" (128).
-George H. Mead

Some may see this formation of normality as a good thing, and indeed it can be, for it harbors safety and consistency. However, we must never forget that it is never acceptable to simply go along with whatever the group says, just because that is the group's opinion. Too often we fall into "sheep mentality" and follow the crowd... And because as a group, each person is individually less responsible for any wrongs, this blind following can lead to horrible things indeed.

"Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals" (339)
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

This "sheep syndrome" can often "pull the wool over our eyes" by allowing us to think we are really just one in a large crowd, and anything we do won't make a big difference. Technically, that's what each one of us on this planet is--just one human being amongst so many. However, it's never a good idea to just assume that someone else in the group will do something if you don't get around to it. We must all keep our individuality and opinions close at hand, and resist becoming a blind follower... You never know who we will end up running after, so we should tear off our masks and realize who we really are and what we can really be. We are more than just a species, we are 6 million unique minds with unique preferences and personalities. Don't let that "sheep syndrome" make you forget that.