Project 5: Socially Engaged Art

This final project took the longest to come up with. Not only had I never done a socially engaged artwork, but I was under the impression that I had to use a completely new concept. But my Professor, inspired me to use my previous project A Look in Your Mirror as a part of my socially engaged piece.
From this, my concept would spring board into creating a bunch of copies of the mirror project. Instead of making more mirrors, I used silver foil card paper. This is very reflective, and simulates a mirror. I then would ask a dozen or so participants to fill in the blanks on the design with adjectives about themselves, the person who they see in the mirror. They did so anonymously, to ensure honest answers. I also sent a follow up survey to gather intelligence on how the project affected them.

By the end, I had a collection of identities on a board for people to enjoy and reflect upon their own identity. How would they answer?

This is a continuation, or rather the application of A Look in Your Mirror in the real world with other people. A Look in Someone Else’s Mirror is the collection of answers from a small sample of people who will remain anonymous. I made copies of the previous project on silver foil card paper to mimic the reflectivity of the mirror. I left the final pane blank to ask the viewer if they too would fill in the blanks. I asked the participants to fill out their answers, in secret and also, to fill out a follow up questionnaire. I wanted to ensure the purest answers possible, so everything is anonymous, I’m blind to how people answered until they were all mixed up, and others will not know that it was them. This way people are less inclined to put down what is expected and more of how they actually feel. The results were rather unexpected, but in a good way. From the follow up questionnaire, I gained insight into how my participants felt during the process. And most of them, saw this piece as a kind of reminder to think positively about themselves, to not get so hung up on their faults. I made them feel “vulnerable but creative and happy”, I prompted them to think more deeply about themselves. Although I had aimed to gather both negative and positive responses it still feels great knowing that I prompted a small change in people. In addition, you also gain insight into the personalities of these people, some of them are really funny and creative.