Foundation 4D – INTER

 

Ideation

With current technology, the Internet has become an essential thing for a human. Everyone chose to go online to rant, complaint, celebrate and to share their life through social media. There is this small group of audience who also turned to online for help, asking for help by expressing their suicidal thoughts and their depression online. This happened a lot especially during this pandemic period, where everyone is forced to spend time either alone or in an environment that stressed them up. It is also during this time when news of people committed suicide rises, including popular South Korean Idols and actors.

Thus I wanted to do something to remind people about how they can help or destroy life just by what they casually said online as a stranger. As online identities could easily be fake and anonymous, thus people could say whatever they wanted to say and not even have to be responsible for it. This is also one of the reasons of how cyberbullying is getting worse over the years.

Concept

As a result, I wanted to explore how far people would go to either help or destroy one person who has suicidal thoughts through the Internet. So I am using a locked room to signify the sealed inner world of the suicidal person and zoom meeting as the “online platform” where people can reach out to the person. Plots such as suicidal posts and suicidal notes are also lying around in the room to help with the narrative. Commands can be given through Zoom meeting and the player will then react to it. However, the reaction to the commands will be revert or of the opposite of it. Initially, I wanted to give people 5 minutes to try to give me any commands and control me around the room.

Final Props

Suicidal Post

Suicidal Letter

Photos with friends

Treasure Box

Overview of the Performance

One of the cameras will be facing the mirror view and I will hold another phone camera on my hand as the first-person perspective. In the beginning, I will start by blindfolding myself while seated on a chair. I will let the audience know that they are supposed to help me escape my “depressed room”. 

Things lying around the tables include: 

• Printed Facebook post
• Suicidal Letter – Write about the stress, anxiety and depression

Bonus reward: 

Inside a box – Need to be unlocked, every item revealed helps to unfold my eyemask a little bit, symbolising the escaping from depression

• Lying around the room (on one table): Family photo, friends photos 
• Hide inside a locked box: Caring conversation from friends

Commands that the class can use: 

• Directional – Front – Left, Back – Right, Left – Front, Right – Back, turn around – squat, squat down – turn around/ reverse
• Side command – Pick up, use the item (keys and scissors)

Ending – 

1 – Escape

While at the last stage, off the light and open the door. Walking out and close the door behind. After that, a short message for the class. 

Thank you for helping me out, dear strangers over the internet, whether I know you or not. Thank you for paying attention to my abnormal and fragile behaviour, for reaching out to me and told me how to do and what to do to get out of the depression that I locked myself in. I can’t describe how thankful I am, and I am truly grateful for you to know that they are still someone who cares about me in this world and know the pain that I am in.

2 – Not Able to Escape

The light went off and the camera will be placed on the table. Play a piece of funeral music and announced, 

Thank you, everyone, for attending my daughter’s funeral today I believe she has tried her best to give everything to being a good daughter, good sister, a good friend and good classmates to everyone. I know she has been facing problem all along but if only I could help her in time, maybe she wouldn’t choose to end her life to escape the pain. 

Final Performance

Reflection

This project helps me to get out of my comfort zone as I am not someone who likes to perform in front of a group of audience and I am not someone who likes to reveal my fragility in front of a crowd. However, I did not spend enough time planning the stage and how to go about for the performance and I felt that the narrative of the performance was not clear to the audience. Due to the lack of planning, I also forgot to time the performance and was initially not able to performed the part when the audience did not help the player to escape on time and resulted in the player committed suicide. I should have spent some time rehearsing the stage as well so to be able to predict and avoid certain incidents during the formal performance day itself.