Tyler's Portfolio Blog

Elizabeth Commandeur and Mark Starmach, Intangible Goods Commandeur and Starmach's,  Intangible Goods vending machine   is not your usual vending machine. Instead of unhealthy snacks, Intangible Goods provides people with healthy mindful alternatives that fuel the mind instead of the body. Each "mind snack" provided in the vending machine is color coded to provide its visitors with prompts, ideas, maps, pencils, etc. to help level up your emotional health based on how they are feeling that day. I absolutely love this installation! I thoroughly love the idea that visitors leave better than they came. I love that this installation doesn't remain an installation but is used as a tool for exploration. This work, I believe is successful and a cool, interactive way of dealing with what we are feeling. 

I have decided to expand my definition of grief by exploring loss on every level. Covid has not only effected our family dynamics with the loss of loved ones but also through loss of jobs, homes, businesses, social interactions and experiences, etc. The UCSF Department of Pschiatry breaks down the various levels of grief and validates the varying experiences of COVID-19. On this site we can find a variety of tips and strategies for coping and reducing stress levels https://psychiatry.ucsf.edu/copingresources/covid19

                                                                                                                                           Nick Verstand, Aura Aura  is an exploration of light as a medium. The installation explores how the visual perception of emotions influences the understanding of the self as well as others - fostering meaningful interactions. I think this installation was such a powerful way of getting participants to interact and respond to their emotions without having to say a word. A lot of today's interaction as been reduced to social media. Even though it is still an outlet that fosters e...

Shelley Klammer, a Counseling Therapist & an Expressive Arts Therapist Her resources can be utilized in the comfort and privacy of your own home. https://intuitivecreativity.typepad.com/expressiveartinspirations/100-art-therapy-exercises.html https://www.expressiveartworkshops.com/ On Shelley's wonderful site can be found 100 art therapy exercises that will have you exploring various emotions. There are free online art journaling courses that promote emotional healing and writing prompts targeted toward healing. Her objective reads, " Are you dancing around your emotional pain, trying not to touch it, feel it, or see it?  I invite you to dedicate yourself to your emotional healing process for a short, concentrated span of time, in a way that is encouraging and enlightening."

 For centuries art has been a source of comfort, expression, and release. Colors, shapes, and patterns highly contribute to our overall mood and shape a lot of our experiences. So today I decided I would take a look at how art has been used to heal. According to the American Art Therapy Association (AATA), "art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience, and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation."    https://arttherapy.org/covid-19-resources/

Interviewing is going to be a big part of my senior thesis so I thought it would be beneficial to take a look at some of the videos already circling the internet surrounding the loss of a loved one.  In this video Liz Zorn identifies some of the initial hurdles she faced after the loss of her father. She talks about feeling stuck, coping with humor, and the reality of her own morality. She continues on with her list of things people don't tell you when you lose a loved one with the hope that her vulnerability will bring hope and awareness.

The theme of my senior thesis is "condolences". I will be using this theme to explore the complexities of grief, healing, and sympathy as it pertains to the loss of a loved one. I chose this theme because I wanted take a deeper look into the many different ways we grieve and how it is we cope and recover from the trauma of losing someone we love. It is my hope that giving this topic my time will help jumpstart the healing process for those participating and interacting with my work.