SOLITUDE

ARTIST STATEMENT

Solitude is born at a very critical and trying time in my life. I am faced with the blessings and challenges of starting a new job, planning my wedding, and preparing myself for graduation all at the same time. My struggle to balance all of these things has led me to question the way I operate my life, and mainly how I handle stress. As I focused on this issue, I realized that the environment we live in today is plagued with stressful and toxic elements. We are continuously exposed to a dangerous amount of digital information that harbors unstable and irrational emotions. We are constantly told how to feel, instead of being told that our feelings are heard and understood.This becomes easily evident when someone is overly happy and excited, but is told to “calm down”. In contrast, when someone is sad, they are told to “cheer up”, and that “other people have it worse”.

Solitude is an interactive program that aids in emotion processing. It is a simple program that allows the user to input one word expressing their emotion and translates it into a light & music show. The words are grouped based on a meter of Positive, Neutral & Negative. Each emotion demonstrates a unique performance. In addition, the screen also displays appropriate quotes along with the music & lights. My goal is not to change how people feel by telling them to do so, but to create the best environment so that they are able to sit with their emotions and let them out. I believe that’s the only way to maintain a stable mental health, by sitting with our feelings and not avoiding them. To seclude ourselves with our emotions and simply feel - without any judgment or influence from the outside world. That is Solitude.