Mundane anxiety
Mundane Anxiety’ is an animated informative video aiming at decontextualizing anxiety by showing it as common, widespread and mundane phenomenon, which can concern anyone or anything – even everyday objects.
Creating a narrative story depicted from a perspective of a personified anxious water bottle named Robin, living in a domestic space and unfolding the most important themes regarding anxiety.
Design Academy Eindhoven , graduation project, 2020
By going away from the cliché of visual representations of anxiety, the story is less stigmatising and far more personalised. After all, everyone experiences these powerful emotions differently. By using everyday objects (found in our domestic spaces), the portrayed issues too appear common and mundane, enforcing the idea that the suffering individual is not alone and more widespread that one might realise.
The story is divided into four acts, outlining the most important aspects concerning anxiety - first one emphasizing the personal layer. The second tackling the problem of lack of understanding and stigma surrounding mental health issues. Third one describing the individual cause. And the last one providing an open ending- highlighting how common it is and giving hope to those with anxiety.
I have created a bottle "taken out" of the animation with the use of 3d printing serves as a reminder that anxiety is a widespread phenomemon. The bottle becomes a sculpture-like artefact enabling people to emphatise and relate with the anxious object.
Most importantly, not only see it as screen-based moving image. I believe that this translation creates a sort of tension between the analogue and digital. Something I find fascinating in my projects.
