Our project portrays the psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic visually. It is a simple enactment, with one protagonist and one prop, of the mental and emotional stages that most of us have gone through in the last few months. The box represents both the physical spaces we shelter in and the restrictions on our freedoms. Without ever leaving the box or breaking the shelter-in-place or quarantine rules, the protagonist learns to adapt and finally thrives.
We think art is a good medium to represent the unusual times we live in today. We wanted to create our project simply with the materials we had on hand. NASA's Human Research website, particularly the Human Factors and Behavioral Performances section, helped us see the parallels between the isolation that astronauts face on their missions and the isolation that the whole world is facing today. For example, NASA psychologist Tom Williams says that when put in a strange and scary new environment, human beings react differently to situations than they would normally. He talks about the need to compensate for stress with systems that ensure safety. Similarly, people have adopted various coping mechanisms in the Covid era -- Zoom, social media, phone calls, etc.
The main problem our team faced was that we decided to enter the challenge late so did not have as much time as we would have liked.
Hazards of Space: Isolation video by NASA psychologist Tom Williams
An Astronaut’s Tips For Living in Space – Or Anywhere by NASA astronaut Anne McClain
NASA's HFBP site