timmygriffithsbct-blog

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CTEC503Signal - Final Entry - Timothy Griffiths - STIGMA

(Blogs state whether it was written collaboratively or individually)

Forming groups and deciding roles - The first week of the assignment and the process of finding group members, discussing our strengths and weaknesses.

Draft brief - Writing up how I perceived the direction of our project.

Talking to a third year - Discussing ways to approach our topic and ideas of how to represent mental illness through textiles. 

Yume and Yami Kawaii - Research - Research into existing concepts of representing mental illness through fashion.

Final Brief - Finalising the brief after talking to the lecturers.

Reviewing feedback from other members - After the elevator pitches - reading the feedback we received and addressing some of their comments

Three garments - This was before we talked to Ben and Charles, were they mentioned that one of our garments should be redundant.

Redirecting our project - After talking to Ben and Charles we re-thought our entire project - in terms of how many garments we need and how we are going to map the data onto it.

Reflection on what we had done so far - After talking to Ben and Charles, we needed to take a step back and review what we had done.

The subjectivity and objectivity of film part 1 - The Things I had to take into consideration when making a short film about a sensitive topic - making sure that how I choose to represent the data is justified.

The subjectivity and objectivity of film part 2 - Talking part 1 into consideration, I talk about how we can aim for an ‘objectively’ 

Talking to an AUT counselor - Jordan managed to get into contact with a counselor and we discussed how we can make sure that everything we do is not offensive or too explicit. She also suggesting a new perspective - not too just focus on the feelings and emotions someone with a mental illness may feel, but to promote a sense of hope that you can still live a meaningful live.

Roles in our group  - Making sure that the lecturers know who did what and therefore show who was slacking off, as there was one group member who caused so much mental and physical pain for the rest of his group members, not doing the work he was supposed to do, so we had to do it for him. He was not treating it like a team. 

Conceptual and contextual statements 

The data we had collected for research  - Link to all the stories we have read and the common words and phrases we had used as our data.

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The data we had collected - research

This is a document of all the stories we had used in our research that we then be used on out garment. It also contains a list of common phrases and words used in those stories.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UAmvUPCIeglDtapgYSMLSd5aGZnVYMuXFQJyc48q5U8/edit?usp=sharing

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Conceptual and contextual statement

Conceptual Statement:

Our main purpose for this project was not too only raise awareness for mental health/illness, but to create an environment where those who have been diagnosed can feel comfortable in the sense that its a way of vocalising a topic that is not talked about and to evoke conversation by creating an installment with three interactive garments, followed along with a short film and photo shoot.

This project was inspired by our last project - about mapping data on to a skirt, however, compared to the last, we go deeper into the specific feelings and emotions a person may feel, finding the commonalities of words people have used to describe their experience with a mental illness from over 100 stories from around the world.

The two garments are made to be expressive and artistic, but also, wearable, with a level of interaction with the garments and the audience, where they are able to contribute and share their feelings and experiences with the second garment. And for the first garment, physically touch and inspect it, finding all the different meanings and tags. There will also be a website to visit, with all our information on our project along with a short film, informing people on the way a person with a mental illness may feel and addressing any misconceptions.

Our project was split into 3 parts. Finding over 100 stories all over the internet and collecting commonalities of words or phrases, Creating the garments - mapping the research we had done, and then using those garments in our film where we address the topic of mental health. We spent the longest time on the research and garments, being the main artifacts of the project. We needed to make sure that what we were doing was not only ethically objective, but the data we use and the way we represent it was the best it could be. However this is an oversimplification as things did tend to get messy, where there was lack of work done by certain group member and lack of communication between each other, which in turn, affected every other member. It is important to remember that this a group project, not an individual. We should have realised that sooner.

We knew from the beginning that working with a sensitive topic, we had to seek ethical help from experts and counselors, however, we never really grasped how every design choice and idea needed to be chosen very carefully, having objective justifications and evidence behind those choices. We started to question every little thing we had done and because of this, our project had shifted from being mostly inspired by the words people have used, to collecting common words and mapping those, essentially turning qualitative data into quantitative. This was also when our project started to look more like a university project, than something we could have done as a passion project. Checking with a counselor definitely made not only our project stronger, but us stronger, knowing how to correctly handle a sensitive topic and to provide a sense of hope.

We hope to be able to expand this idea further as we progress towards year 2 and 3, taking possibly thousands of stories and creating a clothing line, where people could wear in order to make others more comfortable about the topic, sparking more conversations around it - allowing others to be knowledgeable about the topic, supporting those who do have a mental illness.

Contextual Statement:

As this project was inspired by our previous project, where we has mapped the common causes of depression, stress and anxiety. However, we wanted to go further and talk about the bigger picture as a whole. We initially looked at ‘Yume’ and ‘Yami’ Kawaii, which are popular terms from the pioneering subculture in Harajuku, Tokyo; accentuating cuteness, while raising awareness of mental health issues thought clothing and accessories - including bold and explicit words and phrases, translating to things like, “I want to die”. Many issues related to mental illness, i.e. suicide, depression, schizophrenia, social anxiety, etc are extremely stigmatised in Japan - even in Japanese education where teachers and other working professionals will assume that those who are mentally ill have ‘flaws’ or ‘errors’ in their personality/ characteristics, or in other words, “you are mentally ill, because you refuse to change.”

This has greatly inspired our envision of our project. Although having a cultural difference compared to Japan, or more specifically, Harajuku, Tokyo, there are still similarities in ways to represent mental illness through the use of textiles, fashion, imagery and colour; empowering those who wear it. We may speak differently in different countries, but we all speak an international language of mental illness and mental health.

Clothing, or what a person wears is often how a person portrays themselves and their feelings, paving a link between that and mental illness, where essentially, the ‘invisible’ (mental illness) can be visualised by something purely expressive and visual (clothing). This is how our project fits in with itself.

However, creating a statement or raising awareness through the use of textiles has been done many times, in fashion runways, by both big and small brands around the world and it’s not even limited to just fashion. But, what differentiates us from others is that our installation would literally bring people closer together being put in an immersive environment where they can physically interact with our artifacts and build and learn off of it. Instead of being fed large amounts of number and data, actively involving people with interaction, would bring it down to a real and person level - people would be able to process all that information more easily as they are able to choose what they look at and choose to take a step back if they need to.

Our project closely relates to the real world, as the data collected that would be mapped into out garments and used in the short film, has been directly taken from stories around the world from real people. None of our research had been altered or changed, making it significantly more scarier, knowing the severity and realism of it. Introducing people to real stories can seem invasive and uncomfortable, however, you can only go up from there. Learning more about the stigmatisation of mental illness, addressing the false misinformation and assumptions spread by other about mental illness, learning about how to support or help someone in need, and most importantly, knowing AND understanding what mental illness is, and that it is a very real thing.

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Roles in our group

Jordan Laurino 17982644: Making the second garment, organising and getting our project ethically checked by a counselor, research for the whole project, posters for project, getting the mannequins.

Ephraim Carnate 17976319: Making the first first garment.

Timothy Griffiths 16958461: Making the first garment, getting our project ethically checked by a counselor, Writing, filming and editing the short film, making the website, research for the whole project, Providing equipment for hand-in and showcase.

Ravenne Jariol 17988552: Making the second garment, getting our project ethically checked by a counselor, Programming the arduino, getting the mannequins.

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Talking to a AUT counselor

(done Individually)

One of our concerns we discussed when we came together as a group in the first week was the ethicalities behind our project; how do we go about finding that balance between creating a thought provoking installment, focusing on the truths and realities, whilst preventing an explicit, controversial and triggering environment. This applies for not only our research, but the garment and the short film - so in other words - all aspects of our project needed to be chosen carefully. 

When we started to develop an idea of what we wanted to accomplish, we got in contact with an AUT counselor (Josephine Orejana) to discuss and go over our ideas, making sure we were on the right path. 

She suggested that there should be a hopeful aspect to the our project (which is what we were planning on adding in the short film). Saying that you can get help, there are people who do care and are willing to help, and that you shouldn’t define who you are based on your mental illness - or even judge someone based it too. It’s not permanent; just because you have a mental illness, doesn’t mean can’t live a meaningful live. 

After discussing how we plan to add a level of interactivity to one of our garments, telling her about how people would be able to write parts from their own stories or how they feel and think when it comes to experiencing a mental illness or even their own interpretations of it, hopefully, after looking at our installation; giving them a further understanding on what it means to have a mental illness. She noted that it had been proven through many studies that physically writing about how you feel and your experiences with a mental illness can heal wounds faster, i.e: scratches, surgical wounds or scars on your body - where there is this mind-body connection. 

And also most importantly, when people do participate in writing and pinning it onto a piece of fabric, that they should be comforted - thanking them for being so brave. Making sure to give them space, but also not too leave them. Essentially, ensuring they have the support after. 

Her final point was that for our installation, we should have brochures and cards with contacts to different helplines around New Zealand, also contacts to AUT counselling and booklets on how to help someone in need.

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The subjectivity and objectivity of film part 2

(Done Individually)

How we can aim for an objectivity “good” installation:

One of the most important things we need to be aware of is misrepresenting or presenting false information about mental illness. 

The misconceptions of mental illness:

Mental illness is a sign of weakness -  Mental strength is not the same as mental health. Many people with mental-health issues are incredibly mentally strong. Anyone can make choices to build mental strength, regardless of whether they have a mental health issue.

People with a mental illness are violent -  The American Psychological Association reports that only 7.5% of crimes are directly related to symptoms of mental illness. Poverty, substance abuse, unemployment, and homelessness are among the other reasons why people may commit violent acts.

Depression is a character flaw -  Research shows that depression has nothing to do with being lazy or weak. It results from changes in brain chemistry or brain function. 

Addiction is a lifestyle choice -  Addictions involve many different factors including genetics, the environment, depression, family. When people have these underlying values, it’s harder for them to overcome their addiction.

Mental illness is a rare and singular disorder -  Anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, addiction disorders and impulse control disorders are all different categories of different mental illnesses, with each of its own features and causes.

The Stigma of mental illness has been exaggerated -  Mental illnesses are real and cause significant suffering and pain. If mental illness seems high, it is only because people are finally acknowledging what had previously been suppressed and kept hidden.

Having our installation ethically check by a professional before we hand in is what we aimed to do as well.

References:

https://www.mendthemind.ca/stigma/top-11-myths-about-mental-illness/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201511/the-5-most-common-misconceptions-about-mental

https://psychcentral.com/blog/8-misconceptions-about-mental-health-and-mental-illness/

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The subjectivity and objectivity of film part 1

(Done Individually)

To express ones personal taste, thoughts or opinions are considered ‘subjective’. In the industry of film, the subjectivity of scenes are open to interpretation.  Whereas objectivity, are based off facts with no bias involved. 

There are certain psychological elements of film that work to convey a message to the audience. If the film accomplishes what it set out to do, then objectively, it can be considered a well made film. However, films can still be objectively bad, but subjectively good, e.g. ‘The Room’, by Tommy Wiseau. If you film can't accomplish its core purpose then it fails objectively. If people have enjoyed it and found it interesting, it has succeeded subjectively.

However, there sparks controversy in saying that. People can argue that if a film does not have structure and lacks in other areas, such as writing, acting and cinematography, then objectively the film is “bad”. 

But, others argue that, even if there is a lack of quality, then it can still be objectively “good” - as in there are no structure or rules you need to follow; even the basic terms of "poor", "good", "bad" are all inherently subjective, but for the most part, the standards for good and bad film are fairly universal. (but even saying that is subjective). There is a difference between liking something and thinking something is good. You can like something but know it's bad and you can not like something you know is good, but still whether or not something is good or bad can still be considered subjective.

This philosophy even goes beyond to the paradox of subjective objectivity and objective subjectivity that extends back into early Greek philosophers, but I won’t go into that.

How it relates to our project and short film:

This plays a major role during the process of making our short film, considering the sensitivity of the topic, being on mental illnesses. The concern comes from as re-iterated from a previous blog, the importance of finding that balance between being able to create a memorable and thought provoking installment, focusing on the truths and realities (objectively), whilst preventing an explicit, controversial and triggering environment (controversially subjective). Without a doubt, there will be people who may consider our vision and ideas to be uncomfortable and subjectively to them, considered “wrong” or not the “right” way to approach the topic, however, others may argue the opposite saying that we were too afraid and didn’t take risks. People will interpret our not just the short film, but our garment to how they want to, as there are many different factors to the why people perceive information in a certain way, depending on how they were parented, the environment they grew up in - including  who they grew up with (friends, family and others) as well as the physical location, if they were brought up religiously, etc. People react to information differently, which makes it difficult as some of the choices we make can be approved by a counselor or medical expert on mental illness, but others of the public could still find it offensive or triggering. Our best option is to find that balance as stick to it as best as we can.

References:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1210006?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLYKx2p5xo

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueFilm/comments/7w14sc/in_your_mind_is_film_subjective_objective_or/

http://filmtheory.org/subjective-cinema/

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Reflection on what we have done so far

After getting feedback from Ben, Donna and Charles, we as a group came together to re-establish our aims for this project, making sure we were on the right track. Initially we had our ideas of creating a garment based on how people may feel or have felt, the experiences they have had, and the thoughts they had with a mental illness. A lot of our ideas were qualitative (are not measured numerically), meaning that if there was a way a person had felt, we would recreate that in a metaphorical or symbolic way, essentially, being ‘inspired’ from those words instead of directly translating and mapping  quantitative data.

Initially, I figured that showing a way a person may have or is feeling would be more effective to viewers, such as, ‘drowning’ or ‘suffocating’, as it demonstrates a level of severity and realism in the sense that these are the things that are usually not talked about, whereas,if people were bombarded with percentile information and data they would impulsively refrain, therefore, suppressing the truth; not that one is more important that the other in terms of qualitative and quantitative data, but one would be more explicit, emotional, shocking and ‘real’. So we needed to figure out a way to use that in a justified manner, instead of it being purely inspired.

After talking to Ben, we were suggested a different way of mapping our data, where in the stories we had previously collected, we should find commonalities in words and phrases, turning the data from qualitative to quantitative, in which we would use to justify our creative choices when making the garment, eg: “based on around 100 stories we had read, 32% of people had used the words fear and anxiety, which is why 32cm of the left sleeve has been removed to show _____, etc.” 

So far Jordan had provided around 107 stories, then I had catergorised and highlighted common words or phrases that we could use for the garments and short film. We aim to have around 150 - 200.

How many times similar words or phrases were repeated in the 107 stories we had read so far:

Societal judgments/assumptions = 34

Hiding or suppressing the pain = 18

Lack of motivation, tired, sleepy, lazy = 28

Isolated, prisoner, trapped, wanting to escape = 16

Wanting to breath, lack of air, drowning, suffocation = 16

Battle/ fight/ war = 23

Alone or lonely = 9

Scared, fear, anxiety = 39

They don't understand or wanting them to understand = 29

“I can’t explain it” = 8

Alcohol or substance abuse = 2

Worthlessness = 8

Crying/tears = 11

Lack of control = 11

How many times a certain word was repeated in the 60+ stories we had read so far:

Oppression = 1

Trapped = 6

Stuck = 5

Isolation = 6

(Trying to) breathe = 4

Drowning = 11

Suffocation = 1

Prisoner = 1

(no or wanting to) Escape = 4

Alone = 6

Lonely = 3

Hopeless = 2

Struggle = 15

Depression = 51

Lost = 1

Broken = 1

Scared = 6

Anxiety =  29

Fear = 9

Tired = 1

Exhausted = 10

Fatiguing = 1

Draining = 4

Lazy = 1

(No or lack of) energy = 8

(No) sleep = 2

(No) motivation = 5

Over-thinking = 4

Over-taking = 4

Overcoming = 2

Overwhelming = 3

Battle = 11

Fight = 7

War = 5

Suicide = 9

Crying = 9

Tears = 2

fail/failure = 11

Suffering = 3

Sadness = 5

(Out of or losing) control = 10

(Being) controlled = 1

Scream = 4

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Redirecting our project

(Done Individually)

One of the key points Ben had told us was that we need to justify the choices we make, making it clear from where we find data/ other peoples personal stories and why we are using that specifically for our garments, explaining that process along the way. Another major point made by Ben was on the first garment, which is focused on our thought, feelings, and experiences with mental illness. The question ultimately came down to “Who cares?”. Who would care about the garment based off our groups knowledge and experience of mental illness? Which was a fair point considering that we would have no relationship with those who are involved with viewing our installment. 

After we receiving that feedback, we discussed in our group on how we could go about solving this problem. We had decided that since the first and the second garment are too similar, we would take away the first one, leaving us to focus just on mapping the commonality of words from the stories found from the internet by other people around the world. It would significantly make the installment more effective and thought-provoking if we were to catergorise common words or phrases used in different stories, such as, “the word, ‘suffocation’ has been used over 200 times from different stories, all in a negative manner”. This would justify why we decided to incorporate it onto the garment, due to the numerous amount of times used, showing not only how people feel, but the severity of it considering the amount of times it has been used to describe their experience. 

We also thought is was an interesting point to also look into the universality of mental illness. If we were to just concentrate on New Zealand, it would not reflect the reality of it; exploring different phrases and words used in other countries in different languages to show that despite being from other countries, we all still speak this universal language of mental health. 

The feedback given from the lecturers has been incredibly useful, guiding us not only as individuals, but as a group learning and understanding more about the creative process, separating what it means to be a good project from a great project; ensuring that we continuously take a step back to reflect on what we have done, seeing what we have done right and what we need to improve or change. 

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The three garments

(Done Individually)

In this project compared to the last, we look deeper into the specific feelings, emotions or experience a person has described being felt, making it personal, thought-provoking and meaningful. We will look into the way we (as our project group) perceives mental illness based on our personal experiences and feelings, other people stories and blogs on their feelings and experiences and about their mental illness, and lastly how the audience of the installment may either perceive what mental illness is, or as an outlet for them to express their feelings, emotions and experiences.

Garment 1:

This garment would be a physical representation of our groups combined knowledge and experience on mental illness. Before coming up with concepts, we individually spent a couple minutes to write down anything in relation to mental illness - our experiences, views, thoughts and key words. Then we took turns looking at each others, identifying any commonalities in words, and thoughts. Then we came up with possible ideas for representing these similarities into garments. We gave our written consent to Gio, giving him permission to use our words for our project. We decided for the first garment to be based off how we (as a group) see mental illness, based on our experiences and thoughts as we figured it would be a suitable way to show our learning and understanding - to see how we represent the things we learn, research and experience into a garment.

Garment 2:

The second garment would be based off the feelings that others have experienced or are experiencing. To do this, we would search for blogs or stories on the internet. We assume that we would be allowed to use those stories - in an abbreviated manner - considering that they had already published it publicly, however, is was noted by Donna, that we should still contact the original owner/writer for their consent. We decided to create a garment based off other peoples stories, as it provides evidence to mental illness being a real occurrence outside of it just being based off of what our group knows or have/is experiencing. A way to show that it is bigger than what people think it may be, in terms of the severity, and the number of those affected.

Garment 3:

When we first got into groups, we had discussed what our strengths were and what we would like to contribute to the group. Ravenne was resonated with the idea of the interactivity of the garments. She had contacted (Stephan - the physical computing lecturer) to assist her as she wanted to use a motion sensor to detect the movement of people, prompting them with a question, also allowing them to pin pieces of fabric. 

However, this level of interactivity is more suited to young adults our age (18 - 25) which considering the outcome of last semesters audience, would be close to the minority along with young children. Most of the visitors would be older adults and parents, meaning that the interactivity would have to be reconsidered as this younger generation would be more likely to express their emotions publicly, but for parents, it would be more of an uncomfortable experience where they may take a step back, especially as there is a generation gap and the older generation is likely to be less informed on mental illnesses. 

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Reviewing feedback from other members

(Done Individually)

After reviewing the feedback received from the 3 minute pitch presentations, there were some valid points and advice about how to approach/handle our project, considering the sensitivity of the topic. 

“The outfit might be chaotic, when attaching materials to it”, “How will you regulate the interaction?” - This is definitely something we need to consider, as things tend to work on paper, but in practice, it may fail; coming up with a system where people can not only observe the garments and short film, but move smoothly throughout the installment when interacting with it and clusters of people may form causing a nuisance to others.

“A little tunnel visioned”, “the consideration of something other than fashion”, “Fixation of ideas” - Yes, this may be a continuation from last project, which also just happens to be textiles related, but that doesn’t mean we need to have a completely different idea for every project that we do. If something means something to us, why shouldn’t we be able to follow along with it with justified reason? Clothing, or what a person wears is often how a person portrays themselves and their feelings, paving a link between that and mental illness, where essentially, the ‘invisible’ (mental illness) can be visualised by something purely expressive and visual (clothing). In this project compared to the last, we go deeper into the specific feelings and emotions a person may feel instead of being bombarded with numbers and percentages, making it more personal, emotional and meaningful. We also plan on going beyond, designing and prototyping accessories to go along with the garments.

“Don’t be too safe, as it doesn’t reflect the world” , “Don’t be afraid of being bold” -  This  was something we were afraid of doing. We initially planned on making things more symbolic or interpretive to avoid things being to specific, however after talking to a third year it seems that would almost defeat the purpose of this project. There is a difference between being bold and being blatantly offensive, so it is important to go over our ideas and thoughts with a counselor or mental health expert. However, being bold and explicit can mean different things to other people, were a razor blade may be crossing the line despite being as real as it gets.

“You’re not a bad person, depression is just mean” - I like this so ima put this here for future reference...

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Final Brief

(Done Individually)

Question: Can we normalise a legislative environment where sensitive topics can be discussed, acknowledged and expressed in a comforting and rational manner, yet educate those who are uninformed? 

Proposition: We have found that out of the 107 stories we had read about their experiences, thoughts and feelings with having a mental illness, 31.8% of people had mentioned that others had spread false and inaccurate statements on mental illness, making deceptive societal judgments/assumptions, spreading misinformation to others who are unaware of what a means to have a mental illness. On top of that, 51.4% of those same people have expressed how they are too afraid to reach out for help and talk to others about their situation - how they are hiding how they really feel, because others have created a false stereotype of people with mental illnesses, painting them as dangerous, weak and difficult to work with. 

Our aim for this project was not too only raise awareness for mental health/illness, but to create an environment where those who have been diagnosed can feel comfortable in the sense that its a way of vocalising a topic that is not talked about and to evoke conversation by creating an installment with three interactive garments, followed along with a short film and photo shoot.

The two garments are made to be expressive and artistic, but also, wearable. These garments would essentially, visualise the invisible - reaching deeper into how people think and feel when suffering from a mental illness, using colours, patterns, imagery, expression and textures. There will be a level of interaction with the garments and the audience, where they are able to contribute and share their feelings and experiences. Pictures from the photo shoots and the short film would act as a ‘fill’ in the background to not only showcase the clothing (a way to show our intentions with the clothing, in terms on wearability and how it could be used, as well as the accessories?), but to set up the mood and atmosphere.

Mental illness is such a complex thing to understand as there are usually many different factors that contribute to the problem as well as people have many different ways of coping with that pain. Being such a sensitive topic, it creates a huge risk of offending/ triggering people, which consequently, could lead to even more toxic behaviour, offensive and false statements, or the misinterpretation of information. We as a group need to make sure that our choice for ideas, words, messages, and research are chosen carefully as well as having justification for it. To prevent the chance of this occurring, we aim to get our work ethically checked with our justifications, by mental health experts and counselors. However, If things do go to plan, we hope that our installment creates a gratified and memorable experience for those who were unaware of the severity (allowing them to understand it further) and those who do or have suffered (feeding them empowerment), easing meaningful conversations on the tribulations of mental illness.

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Yume and Yami Kawaii

(Done Individually)

‘Yume’ and ‘Yami’ Kawaii (meaning, “dreamy cute” and “sick/ill cute”) are popular terms from the pioneering subculture in Harajuku, Tokyo; accentuating cuteness, while raising awareness of mental health issues. The use of pastel colours, cute images and pretty fonts beautifully juxtaposes the use of syringes, band aids, knives, and depressing message and quotes. This sort of ‘anti-kawaii’ movement, essentially, tries to break the silence around the epidemic of mental illness through the use of fashion and accessories, focusing on depression, social anxiety, suicide, and other mental health illnesses.

Yume Kawaii 

This style focuses on the use of pastel colours not only in clothing, but hair and accessories. Yume Kawaii can come off as cute and sweet and fantasy-like, hence the use of the word, ‘Yume’. \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ 

Yami Kawaii:

This style focuses more on the use of medical equipment, like, syringes, plasters/band aids, and face masks. ‘Yami’ meaning sick or ill is commonly found in medical and hospital institutions. \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

Many issues related to mental illness, i.e. suicide, depression, schizophrenia, social anxiety, etc are extremely stigmatised in Japan - even in Japanese education where teachers and other working professionals will assume that those who are mentally ill have ‘flaws’ or ‘errors’ in their personality/ characteristics, or in other words, “you are mentally ill, because you refuse to change.”

This has greatly inspired our envision of our project. Although having a cultural difference compared to Japan, or more specifically, Harajuku, Tokyo, there are still similarities in ways to represent mental illness through the use of textiles, fashion, imagery and colour; empowering those who wear it.

“Whether they’re are actually calling out for help is another question, but it’s like shouting down a large speaker and telling the world, ‘This is how I feel’.”

References:

https://medium.com/@omriwallach/yamikawaii-japans-darker-and-cuter-version-of-emo-d5c7a63af1f4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wsk3Oa_3F8

https://www.quora.com/How-bad-is-the-mental-illness-stigma-in-Japan

http://japanese-word-for-today.blogspot.com/2016/08/yume-kawaii.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FGmKRBFtfI

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Talking to a third year

(Done Individually)

Charles had introduced us to a third year student (Kelly) who had also done projects on the topic of mental illness with fashion and textiles. We went over what we had come up with so far for feedback and developing our ideas further.

Mental illness being a sensitive, and in some places a taboo topic to talk about - consisting of many grey areas and opinions, she reiterated on the importance of finding that balance between being able to create a memorable and thought provoking installment, focusing on the truths and realities, whilst preventing an explicit, controversial and triggering environment - which is something I touched on before our meeting when planning the short film and photo shoot.

She had noted that some of the ideas we had were too explicit which could be a likely cause to trigger or offend someone, which is the opposite of what we want, With that, she also mentioned the importance of having the strength to let our ideas go, otherwise things tend to get messy, losing our initial focal point.

She suggested taking a step back, looking at all of our ideas and research, deciding what we specifically wanted to focus on in terms of what the 3 garments are going to be individually based off of, what conversation we wanted to start and what/how we are going to get there.  She had given us contacts to check the ethicalities of our project, such as AUT counselors and mental illness lifelines in New Zealand.

[timmygriffithsbct-blog]

Draft brief

(Done Individually)

Our aim for this project was not too only raise awareness for mental health/illness, but to create an environment where those who have been diagnosed can feel comfortable in the sense that its a way of vocalising a topic that is not talked about and to evoke conversation.

Mental illness is such a complex thing to understand as there are usually many different factors that contribute to the problem as well as people have many different ways of coping with that pain. 

Our main focus would be on the three garments, where the audience would be able to interact with it, which would make the whole installment more intimate, personal and relatable. The pictures from the photo shoots and the short film would act as a ‘fill’ in the background to not only showcase the clothing and accessories, but to set up the mood and atmosphere. 

Edit: After talking to Charles, more depth needs to be added. I will hyper-link this comment to the updated post

[timmygriffithsbct-blog]

Forming groups and deciding roles

(Done Individually)

The ‘Tangible Data assignment resonated with me the most this semester; specifically the representation of data through textiles and clothing, encouraging conversations about issues that are not talked or known about. This is what I am hoping to expand on for our final project. The process of forming groups was simple due to that fact that other member from previous groups were already interested in this idea and wanted to invest more time into it, expanding our knowledge on the ‘controversial’ subject of mental health. Focusing on mental health and raising awareness connected to our group on a personal level which, pushes us towards the continuation of this idea. We had pitched our idea to other people and manged to gain another member (Ravenne) who was also invested into our idea and wanted to incorporate interactivity into the garments. We did manage to gain another member (Jake), however, he did not feel a connection with the project, but it’s important to notice that he was open and willing to help with our project had we needed any help. 

Group members:

Jordan

Ravenne

Gio

Tim (myself)

We had a discussion about our strengths, weaknesses, and how we wanted to contribute to the group. We also took the “True Colours” personality test to help identify the things that could frustrate or stress each other out, which is something we would take into consideration when working together.

Jordan - Blue

Ravenne - Green and blue

Gio - Green

Tim (myself) - Yellow and Green

We found it easy to divide the workload between the four of us, considering we all had different ideas on  how to contribute. Gio, wanted to work towards the designs and making of the garments  based off the research. Jordan work well when it came to organisation and research  - she was also going to work with Ravenne on the interaction of the garments. Ravenne was was also going to work on the research, but mostly on the interactivity of the garments with the audience. I wanted to work towards a short film/ campaign video for the garments/ clothing accessories - as well as a photo shoot and promotional magazine.

[timmygriffithsbct-blog]

Existing Data Phyicalisation Projects

Leithinger’s Interactive Shape Displays (2009):

This is a rubber sheet that has 120 motorised pins underneath with a projected image on the top. Each pin is controlled individually with sensors that detect pushing and pulling. In 2011, they followed up with this project by adding a camera for users to interact with it in mid air.

This project does not necessarily show any form of data, however, it’s a proof of concept of iterative textile material. Having each pin individually motorised opens up man opportunities to represent data, for example a 3 dimensional showcase of data where people can feel the high and low points and compare differences. Also, other materials could be used to not only represent data by shape, but by feel and texture. I like the interactivity behind it. Humans are naturally curious animals and the senses of sight and touch play significant roles in our everyday life. People can be bombarded with information ans numbers when looking at data, but removing that and creating an interactive and physical experience can put people into a new perspective.

Donna was also talking to some of our group about how we could mold synthetic fabrics in a vegetable steamer. Which Leithinger’s project reminded me of this.

Nathalie Miebach’s Woven Sculptures (2006):

This is a woven sculpture which is made out of weather data. She began building low-tech data collecting devices that extract weather data from different environments. The data was compared historically and geologically before made into sculptures.

Thinking about how we could incorporate this idea onto our project; the strings could be woven around the outer blue ‘cage’ with different thicknesses to represent data. Nathalie Miebach’s project would be interesting in terms of introducing it into some type of clothing item to be worn, especially with the shape and colours, it could be a very expressive piece to wear. I like the iteration of different and bright colours, which makes it significantly easier to interpret each layer.

This specific sculpture was made based off data collected from hurricane Noel where attributes like wind speed, activity and temperature where mapped out on a time-line, then translated into a sculpture.

Reference:

http://dataphys.org/list/nathalie-miebachs-woven-sculptures

http://www.nathaliemiebach.com/weatherscores.html

http://dataphys.org/list/daniel-leithingers-interactive-shape-displays/