First Snow, or...

When Will I Get My Fucking Act Together and Move Somewhere Tropical?

This installation was a physical manifestation of my struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The focal point of the project was a green scarf with brightly colored flowers woven into it. The scarf was a visual representation of the warmer seasons, but in the context of the installation it also represented my yearly denial of the emotional difficulties that winter inevitably brings.

To use David Stout’s words, my piece was a “tableau vivant for the seasonal disordered.” My intention was to create an environment that expressed tension and irony as I went to great lengths to simultaneously acknowledge and deny my seasonal struggles. The irony and tension were expressed in through three major juxtapositions. First, I was knitting the scarf – clearly a winter object – but it was green and covered in flowers – clearly a spring/summer theme. Second I was wearing my bathing suit and sunglasses, but they were paired with my heavy snow boots. Third, I was sitting in a chair that is clearly for sunbathing, but the lobby was cold and the scarf trailed away from me, out into the cold winter night, and ended in a flowerbox full of dead leaves; the only sunshine nearby was on TV, as footage of a sunny beach looped incessantly on a screen that was out of my reach, representing both hope and desperation.

While I feel that my installation for our show was somewhat successful, I had the opportunity to install my piece in a different space for the InterArts final show and I felt that the second installation was more successful. The major difference was that instead of being in the middle of an open space, I was enclosed in a raised alcove built into the wall behind panes of glass, as though in a cage. This space created a feeling of isolation and separation from the audience, which felt incredibly appropriate because social withdrawal is a common symptom of SAD. I further took advantage of this space by hanging a sign on the cage, both emphasizing the isolation and also providing contextual information that related the project specifically to SAD. The sign read:

Observe the Artist in its natural habitat!

Although she would never admit it, this particular specimen has Seasonal Affective Disorder. During the colder months, when daylight hours are limited, this disorder causes the Artist to experience many of the following symptoms:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Loss of energy

• Loss of libido

• Social withdrawal

• Oversleeping

• Loss of interest in activities she once enjoyed

• Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates

• Weight gain

• Difficulty concentrating and processing information

LIVE ANIMAL! PLEASE DO NOT TAP ON GLASS!