Stephanie Trevethan
Stressed Out
2017
Video
Stressed Out
This artwork is focused on the concept of stress, as this past year has been a highly stressful year due to the disruptions and strikes that have occurred throughout the year. When I am stressed I develop bad habits and I become annoyed with certain sounds and actions. The sound of popping bubbles with bubble-gum and the chewing sound is exceedingly annoying. Furthermore, I also have a bad habit of chewing gum when I am stressed to try relieving stress and anxiety. One of the definitions of stress is the “state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances” and this definition relates to my concept as the process of chewing gum puts strain on my jaws and it’s full of tension as the gum is stiff in the beginning. As seen in the video, I place gum into my mouth and put more pieces of gum into my mouth until my jaw can’t take it anymore or there’s too much inside of it in my mouth. This mirrors the idea of stress and when more stress is imposed, the harder it is to cope with the stress or to handle it. After a while once the gum has softened as I have worked it by chewing profusely and this reflects the notions of stress as I found a way to deal with the stress by pushing forward. Then I was able to blow bubbles and create the popping effect as to represent the fact that there is so much pressure from the stress that I could ‘pop’, hence the notion of being ‘stressed out’. These notions of stress are a constant cycle and therefore this process continues to ‘loop’ and once the stress has been relieved, by the removal of the gum in the end, the cycle continues.
Stephanie Trevethan
Stressed Out
2017
Video Still
