[video & images below ︎︎︎]
June 2020 – lockdown n. 1
The current Covid-19 pandemic showed the influence that the culture within which we live plays on our senses of identity and responsibility. Measures to control the spread of the virus had (and still have) profound effects on our Self, showing that our daily activities can be changed in a matter of months, and that the social fabrics of our societies can be altered substantially with none or little notice.
Wear a Mask When You Talk to Me re-examines the nature of the cultures and communities we belong to and grapples with the mechanisms they operate by. Recognising cultures and communities as networks of individuals, it observes the embodied notions and engrained actions that form the conceptions of how one should act. In turn, it askes where these come from and how are they reinforced, before looking for ways to engage the agency of individuals that make up these networks.
Bringing together research into a number of different aspects of public and private life, the project challenges detatched recognition of the current situation and creates spaces for discussion around the links between shame and responsibility within shifting cultural landscapes.
*developed in collaboration with Design Academy Eindhoven Alumni Chenyu Wang, Ginevra Petrozzi, and Ned Kaar;
Eindhoven, The Netherlands; 2020.
[︎︎︎details from video]