RESILIENCE

COVID 19 brings significant impacts on humanity, including sickness, death, isolation, grief and anxiety with over 50 millions infections and 1 million death, Hong Kong citizens also reached a new record low in mental well-being.

As Dr. Amit Sood stated that “resilience is the ability to withstand adversity, bounce back and grow despite life’s downturns”, this Resilience project, rather than focusing on art therapy itself, invites people to donate their narratives of COVID 19 as an artistic subject for study based on philosopher Alain de Botton’s book, “Art as Therapy”, that described the psychological functions of art. The study collects narratives of Hong Kong presidents, CEOs, founders and executives across disciplines by semi-structured qualitative interviews. Data collected would be coded and used for an experience design of an installation of socially engaged art and digital art.

Inspired by the story of Buddha and Kisa Gautami who sought a cure of her died baby but was enlightened after realizing death and suffering was only a part of life, the Resilience project will be a spatial installation of experience design that brings visitors to revisit their experience under COVID 19.

As Dr. Sood explained that any unresolved issue accumulates stress resulting in loss of attention, restlessness and unhappiness, the experience aims at providing an opportunity for visitors to face unresolved issues.

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The impact COVID-19 has had on mental health is being felt across the world.

With long periods of isolation and uncertainty, it is easy to feel very alone and disconnected from the world. As a response, we have created Wishing Star: A social media style art piece for people to input their wishes, struggles, or triumphs and have them heard, validated, or celebrated by people across the world.

Wishing Star is a both virtual and physical art installation that is to be projected at both Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong, and Ryerson University in Toronto.

Users wishes and other input is collected either in person or over a collaborative photo site, such as Miro, and paired with their choice of picture and placed into a unique photo mosaic for other users to interact with. Participants are encouraged to answer wishes with words of encouragement or advice on achieving their dreams through physical post its or virtual comments on the Miro Board which will then be integrated into the mosaic itself.

When a person’s wish is answered, they complete the final step of Wishing Star: expressing gratitude; therefore, creating a dialogue between users that spreads positivity and reassures them they are not alone in their struggles and the cycle of Wishing Star begins again.

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