With the deadline rapidly approaching (hello monday) I thought it might be appropriate to write up a blog post about my process up to now. It involved a lot of Pinterest and… distress. I’ve been turning it over in my head: what do I want to project, what is the relevance in projecting a illustration for no other reason than just wanting to try out a new medium, where does my project fit in between other digital media students incredible 3D animations and projection mapping? I think my project is conceptually strong, straight forward and has good intentions but I am worrying about the physical delivery.

Currently, my images have been a mish-mash of Illustrator experiments combined with type showing examples of misconceptions about mental health conditions. The only problem with creating a series of images is that a lot of the words are similar – mostly just showing a mistrust of people with mental illnesses, not believing their experiences or difficulties or just labeling them dangerous. Also I’ve never really tried to create anything where the type has to form shapes and become part of the illustration and I’ve been finding it a challenge. Typography is not easy and I may know the basics of choosing appropriate type faces for legibility, but it’s a completely different kettle of fish trying to incorporate it creatively into an image.

My idea of projecting onto a mist of water has gone down the toilet as I cannot get a steady/heavy enough mist for the projection to sit on, it just goes straight through onto the wall. However, you do get pretty light fragments caught on the water. I’ve tried projecting onto a variety of flat surfaces with different textures, onto water mist as previously mentioned, into oily water and my favourite so far, projecting onto a sequin-y pillow. However, I’m really not convinced that purple, shiny images in any way correlate with the message I’m trying to communicate. Add that to the big ‘development, but not immediately relevant to finished project’ pile.

Below are some of the images of the development of my project.

http://jpearceurbpoet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/light-experimental-typography.html

http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/craig-ward-profile-events/

https://danypepin.wordpress.com/tag/typography/

http://www.hartung-trenz.de/projekte/2003/sylt/sylte.htm

http://www.braceforimpact.co.uk/personal-body-typography.php

http://www.notabenevisual.com/#/works/in-order-to-control/

http://projects.jennyholzer.com/projections

http://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/how-to-take-great-photos-of-holiday-lights

http://www.jessieherndon.com/mixed-media.htm

http://www.artres.com/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox_VPage&VBID=2UN365877WWB&IT=ZoomImageTemplate01_VForm&IID=2UNTWAHP85O1&PN=5&CT=Search&SF=0

http://www.darrensaravis.com/

Singapore Biennale 2011: Open House

http://scottbarclayartist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/text-projection.html

http://www.artres.com/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox_VPage&VBID=2UN365877WWB&IT=ZoomImageTemplate01_VForm&IID=2UNTWAHP8ETX&PN=7&CT=Search&SF=0

http://www.laura-white.co.uk/files/gimgs/16_fragilebrute01.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQNMkxpSZUBMpELLQKY-GlEop_QI3ld574XgX6mRGxV6JOgfkz

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQaME-cGMK3AA112m7xnsjWm8aEiTot3QP9THoFQa-nlNWUBe00YQ

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWOJCKElaLO9SgOhanW6o30XdwK2iBenF4SjZNTVhnwloaMSqO

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTE7HOGaEOGVbaYseqgWiuX2NJ9I-OldhgweBrm0LdcDLtpqBpK

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCMvG9SxEgBfQIBg6kIMANGV8jP0nnwPpx7egzDXGLQ6p1WXZXbQ

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRW0ov9M1jIn53ppIppM9jXI5pSP6GYOU2wz7onm7kjax4ncfDT

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmJeM8RqK6R2uxGRFRvsA2lNtTvDbkS_82V4qDgqFpph7_SIek

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKDDlorWjsCtxN4nybieI_Hv7k-4wKmeexTNHc25zSgWumTHc6ag

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT-rnDV4spi2wxIrcOZI-UwlDY3OiLUMiaufgMR_BLDZcbvbld5

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6JfjPrT8Mw5czuNdm-tnmeMwy4gbScQ4uVD_fzUJl0FJjHmIT8Q

As I have been researching a variety of images on mental illness: photography, illustrations and mixed media art etc, a few have really stood out without being stereotypical.

One of these is ‘Piggybacking’ by Troy Coulterman, a statue depicting the weight of anxiety on someones back. I like the way the person isn’t the focus of the model, it’s the monster like depiction of anxiety weighing him down. Often in images trying to show mental illness use distortion of the subjects body and face to show some sort of inner turmoil, and although this does make sense, I’m really interested in how to visualize the illness or stigma, instead of the person. I like the basic use of colour and the shape of the monster, sort of like a mix between the stay puffed marshmallow man from ghostbusters and a tumour. It’s repulsive to look at and you don’t need any words to explain what the image is depicting.

Another image I like for the way it represents the illness instead of the person, is one of a series of images made by Modpodcreative for the Positive Posters competition in 2012. The set of posters are made to raise awareness of men’s mental illnesses, as they are often under-diagnosed, and therefore have higher rates of suicide than women. The photo shows a young mans face with a growth of blue scales around his hairline and down his neck; this, combined with the caption ‘mental illness isn’t always easy to see’ is quite emotive. Not only is the viewer taken aback by the scales, but it is not a stereotypical representation of a person with mental illness, emphasizing how invisible illnesses can be.

As part of R+D, I’m focusing my attention on three key areas of research: 1) Previous and ongoing mental health campaigns and how they deliver their messages, 2) art and mental health, and 3) animation styles and what makes a good projection.

1)

http://www.fact.co.uk/search?search=mental+health&submit=Search

http://www.fact.co.uk/projects/mersey-cares-animation-project.aspx

http://www.brit.co/talkspace/

http://www.fact.co.uk/projects/in-hand.aspx

http://www.fact.co.uk/projects/oneinfive.aspx

http://support.talkspace.com/knowledge_base/topics/what-is-talktala-_-about

http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2015/02/history,-meaning-and-symbolism-of-the-black-dog.aspx

http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2015/01/what-does-good-mental-health-feel-like.aspx

http://www.mentalhealthy.co.uk/news/932-the-black-dog-raises-mental-health-awareness-for-sane.html

http://www.oxfordmhf.org.uk/articles/articles_archway.html

http://thenewmentalhealth.org/

time to change

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=8c5705e6-c391-4776-b774-188bf52e1b34%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=cmedm&AN=23632271

2)

http://www.daxcentre.org/about-us/

http://www2.ocadu.ca/feature/3835/pathfinding-installation-explores-memory-loss

http://www.christapierce.com/104073/967924/home/depression-awareness-street-art

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/03/bloom-28000-potted-flowers-installed-at-the-massachusetts-mental-health-center/

http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-news/post/reassembling-the-self/

https://watersideartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/1550-reassembling-the-self/

http://www.mhfestival.com/news/video-content/item/65-looking-back-on-mental-interview-with-the-vacuum-cleaner

http://www.mhfestival.com/news/festival-reviews/item/62-out-of-sight-out-of-mind-a-provocative-exploration-of-reality-labelling-and-discrimination

http://www.mhfestival.com/news/festival-reviews/item/121-scottish-artists-paint-a-powerful-portrait-of-mental-health

Art exhibition by mental health patients held

http://www.hootcreativearts.co.uk/en/projects/a299

http://www.babisalexiadis.com/home.htm#MerseyCares

http://centreformedicalhumanities.org/group-therapy-mental-distress-in-a-digital-age/

http://writebasenews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/group-therapy-mental-distress-in.html

3)

http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/arts-therapies/#.VO2qSS5_vZV

http://www.insideoutcommunity.com/arts-mental-health/the-case-for-arts-and-mental-health/

http://web.stanford.edu/group/co-sign/Sussman.pdf

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=a3a26e83-1035-4b1b-aa50-829131a3d019%40sessionmgr113&vid=0&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=88036614

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=8c5705e6-c391-4776-b774-188bf52e1b34%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=cmedm&AN=23632271

http://isp.sagepub.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/content/60/2/169.full.pdf+html

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=fa7fbe1b-85cd-4996-ad52-af97f0d33b76%40sessionmgr111&vid=0&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=25765506

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Art/2013/Nov-01/236420-art-to-raise-awareness-on-mental-health.ashx