Graphic Design / Critical Studies year 4
Graduation project about the pressure to perform / to succeed.
It turns out that more and more (young) people suffer from stress-related health problems. This is what my performance pressure did to me in only five months.
In this time working on my performance pressure graduation project I became more and more raided by mental breakdowns. So bad that in the end I couldn’t answer simple questions, think straight and function normally anymore. I completely collapsed. I am not strong enough to get better by ‘tips & tricks’ alone.
This is not only my problem, but the problem of over one million Dutch citizens. We grow up with norms and values which cause stress-related health issues. Our society is soaked with the pressure to be successful, to perform the best we can. In everything, everywhere at any time.
A serious approach, such as professional help and / or drastic changes in our daily lives could possibly provide a solution. But situations do not change from one day to another. And how many people have the money for paying years of long-term therapy?
I present you the (subjective) actual representation of the result of performance pressure.
You see an image of me just before one of my mental breakdowns. When you walk almost past it the image flips (Kinect / Processing) to a photo of me in the middle of a breakdown. The first image you could recognise, but the second I would never allow anyone to witness. But if you really pay attention, you will.
Pay some more real attention to each other!
