The mental Health vending machine is a piece of installation art that has really inspired me with its simple but really effective idea. The machine works by having a list of different emotions down the side that anyone could be dealing with at any one time and the person using the machine selects the emotion they are experiencing then pays £2 and receives a packet with something inside that aims to help deal with that emotion. The artists Elizabeth Commandeur and Mark Starmach designed the machine and worked with experts on mental health issues to create the bags inside and was put on the streets of Australia in 2018. The piece was a success and I am not surprised as it is both an original and interesting piece of interactive art as well as being a tool that actually does help combat mental health struggles as sometimes a little boost is all someone might need. The piece was made from a recycled vending machine and all the proceeds went back into charities that research mental health issues. Although my project is looking at how I can give someone who doesn't experience mental issues the chance to experience what it might be like I still found this piece to be really inspiring. It mainly just showed me that art pieces don't have to be big and expensive to get a point across and have an impact on the people that interact with the piece. It also helped to show me that although the topic the piece is trying to handle is serious the piece itself can still be fun and exciting and that is important because it means more people want to interact with the piece and it becomes gradually more and more popular and builds its audience to have a bigger impact.
References:
Snackable artwork creates positive thinking (2018). Available at: https://artsreview.com.au/snackable-artwork-creates-positive-thinking/ (Accessed: 16 March 2020).
Comments