So Obsessed with ______

Project Brief:

Randomness and Rhizomes

Project: Rhizome
Assignment length: 2 weeks
Due Date: Dec 1
# of collaborators: solo/duo

Make a database that tells a cinematic story. How we access it is up to you – it can be computer-based, or real-world based, or a mix.
The content and form should be working together to covey your concept.

Why random access? What advantages can this have for your concept?
Do you still use plot? Events?

I did a project called "i am so obsessed with ______" .

goal:
i want to experiment my thoughts around this obsession project, and i want to get more data from people, and use different criteria to classify those data to look at those data, e.g. emotional involvement; moral judgment, good or bad; socially acceptable or not. I wanna to make people think about their obsessions, especially for people who has obsessive compulsive disorder, who couldn't control and who blame or feel guilty for their obsessions, I want them to go through the process like a routine and take their time to classify, to think about their obsessions, are they really bad? not socially acceptable? or it's just a way how to you look at it.

form:
setting up a scene as a routine, put the objects in the right place, creating a linear space, so people come and automatically follow the rule created by the space.
creating a safe and private atmosphere(i guess i should adapt my setting coz it's not private enough)
guiding people to write down their obsessions using different colors
guiding people to put them into either good/or bad jars
turning everything complex to a cup of "tea" with color, as the Tibetan healing ceremony , mandala http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/mandala/default.htm









feedbacks:
I got feedback from ithai, "that doesn't make sense, that's not tea" and then I started thinking about it, what if I did relate that with real tea, but use different colors of tea, mix them together and have real tea, does that make people feel more pleasant?
Also eddie said " the classification of both color/emotion and good/bad is confused". I think this performance is an experiment for me to see which is more interesting, emotion attachment or judgment on good/bad. And rating the obsession as good/bad, and attaching the obsession with emotion are two different things for me.
Marina also said "too many texts on instructions", and Allistar knew my project, having the same concern. The test in the bar showed I should definitely make it as simple as 2 steps, write and drop.
Got feedbacks from Marina and other people on using so many different colors to represent emotion. first, that's very personal; second, i have a lot "pink" and it could be biased. so maybe people will not buy the part of emotion thing.
marina also refers me to 12steps, http://www.12step.org/Forums/. That's fascinating, and I found http://www.myrecoveryspace.com/ from 12steps. I've been thinking a lot, should I continue it to make it on line? or more of a face-to-face and reallife performance thing. The good thing for this 12 steps and myrecoverspace project is it creates a empathy "We are more alike than we are different". That's great to people who need mental support.
People are interested in learning others' obsessions, especially if they know that's classified by the writer as good, even they feel that's bad "the obsessed with money one" . then the conflict creates conversation. that's what I like.
I talked with Marina about the direction of this project. I explained I am more focusing on the obsession content, on people's judgment on these obsessions, obsessions on consuming, obsessions on relationship, than the form I did. Advices from Marina are: setting up the place, more specific, asking the question more specific, setting up in a luxury mall vs. in the subway will be different, and I could get more specific obsessions from this specific group of people, and the questions could be even more constraint than right now. Getting more data from different location and different people group would be my next step. I still need to think about the form later and I also would think about involving my own stories into the performance.