phobia_experimental diary
What psychological and emotional states characterize the return to the so-called post-pandemic 'new normality'?
As many studies and newspapers have reported, in the last two years there has been a significant increase in the number of people who have undertaken a psychological or psychiatric therapy, following the catastrophic impact of the pandemic on our psychic life. The present project seeks to represent both graphically and typographically the emotions of fear and panic that in more and more cases accompany the return to the 'new normality'. Although these emotions are mostly linked to the current state of emergency we are all experiencing, they are often very similar to those experienced by people suffering from claustrophobia.
The main idea behind the project, thus, was born from the desire to tell the other side of the coin of the new normal. After a period that saw us locked up in our houses and apartments, the desire to go back to our normal life is more than comprehensible, but one other important aspect must also be taken into account: the psychological fragility that is often associated to moments like this. Throughout its three different sections, "people" - "feelings" - "space", the project offers an experimental diary - made of images instead of words - collecting the sensations involved in claustrophobia. The first section represents what are the effects of other people on a claustrophobic subject. I decided to graphically represent the distortion of the reality that usually accompanies claustrophobic attacks. The second section deeps into the feelings of suffocation and panic. The third and final section uses carvings in paper sheets in order to really "touch" the sensation of getting trapped in one place.
As many studies and newspapers have reported, in the last two years there has been a significant increase in the number of people who have undertaken a psychological or psychiatric therapy, following the catastrophic impact of the pandemic on our psychic life. The present project seeks to represent both graphically and typographically the emotions of fear and panic that in more and more cases accompany the return to the 'new normality'. Although these emotions are mostly linked to the current state of emergency we are all experiencing, they are often very similar to those experienced by people suffering from claustrophobia.
The main idea behind the project, thus, was born from the desire to tell the other side of the coin of the new normal. After a period that saw us locked up in our houses and apartments, the desire to go back to our normal life is more than comprehensible, but one other important aspect must also be taken into account: the psychological fragility that is often associated to moments like this. Throughout its three different sections, "people" - "feelings" - "space", the project offers an experimental diary - made of images instead of words - collecting the sensations involved in claustrophobia. The first section represents what are the effects of other people on a claustrophobic subject. I decided to graphically represent the distortion of the reality that usually accompanies claustrophobic attacks. The second section deeps into the feelings of suffocation and panic. The third and final section uses carvings in paper sheets in order to really "touch" the sensation of getting trapped in one place.
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