Time Frame
March 2023 - July 2023
Partners
Mona Kübelbeck
Supervision
Kai Magnus Müller, Martin Wehl
Tools
We decided to explore the stages of grief and its impact on individuals and their communities. Our goal was to help understand how people cope with loss and to guide their supporters. The exhibit engages with grieving visitors through lighting, music and text, creating an immersive experience that promotes understanding and dialogue about the topic.
Emotions
Illustration
Audio Design
Prototyp
Building
Sewing
Concept
Ideation
Light Installation
Research The topic of loss and grief appealed to us primarily because of the challenge of portraying extreme emotional chaos, so we quickly decided to take a closer look at this abstract topic.
First developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, there are now several models that describe the process of dealing with loss. What is striking is that while there is some overlap between the models, it is fundamentally impossible to predict how an individual will react to loss.
Definition of goals Our target audience are family and loved ones of the bereaved. It is often difficult for them to understand how their loved one is feeling and how they can help. This feeling of helplessness and tension can be very exhausting.
Our goal is to make the most important stages of grief understandable to those who are not experiencing them. With the "Crazy-8-Method" we have created a number of possibilities and ideas how to realize our project. To do this, we both used the method without prior consultation, and then presented, collected, and organized our results.
Implementation Thematically, we decided to focus on the emotions of the different phases. We have chosen to focus on shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and hope. Our approach prioritizes emotional communication over information dissemination. We convey emotions by immersing the visitor in a different, phase-specific world using different colored and phase-specific light and sound.
Visualization In addition to sound and light, we decided to add text to convey information. The viewer is guided through the emotional world of the affected person by means of a line that also matches the character of the individual phases and is also given tips that can help in dealing with the affected person. We have also added helpful illustrations to shed more light on the phase.
Learnings and Final Product We had the opportunity to exhibit our project at the university's semester exhibition. Unfortunately, we found that most people were reluctant to put on their headphones. The light in the room also took away some of the effect of the exhibit. In a real implementation, you would probably have to plan a little more space for the exhibit and give the feeling of a closed room. Personally, I really enjoyed the very emotional appeal of the project and the opportunity to take a very abstract approach to a subject.
