Our Journey - a part of 'In My Shoes'

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Our Journey is a 2 piece animation created by myself, Kevin Tan and fellow artist See Yu Xuan as a part of the exhibition: 'In My Shoes'. The exhibition was created by local social enterprise Uninhibited Space, for the National Youth Council (NYC) as part of Youth Month July.

The project advocates for mental health and brings together 9 artists from the School of Art, Design and Media.

Supporting this event are the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), the Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT) and is also a part of the *SCAPEpersonaldiscovery COMPASSION series. The event was held at *SCAPE on the 30th and 31st July 2016.

Our Journey is an animation that features the dreams and aspirations of the mental health community. It represents an advocating voice for a more inclusive society and hopes to raise awareness towards the issue.

Monsters are used as visual metaphors to represent the notion of humans as unique individuals. While the situations that individuals face may differ, they are fundamentally recognised collectively as people with the same human condition.

The first animation presents two monsters who embark on a journey in search for their scattered friends. The two travel with an umbrella through different landscapes, gathering their companions who huddle under the magical umbrella before returning to the city. The duo serves as a representation of the effort and actions made by the community to bring individuals together.

The second animation depicts various monsters fulfilling their dreams and aspirations in different scenes. This shows that with a combined effort from the community and individuals, dreams can become more attainable and individuals can work with one another towards common goals.

As part of the effort to advocate for mental health, this project relies on co-creation between artists and members of the mental health community, specifically clients from Club EPIP (Early Psychosis Intervention Programme) and IMH Volunteers.

Clients were asked to create their own 'monsters' that served as representations of themselves, while sharing their future dreams and aspirations. These would serve as the eventual main characters in the final deliverables.