My thesis topic is about “coexists with masks”. Due to the large-scale outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, many countries have begun to recommend people to wear masks to prevent the spread of the virus after many observation and experience summarization. As the virus is still spreading and mutating around the world, and the effectiveness and coverage of the vaccine still need to be observed for more time. Many people gradually realize that in the next few years, we all seem to have to coexist with masks.

However, behind the small behavior of wearing masks involves more problems: we cannot distinguish identities efficiently when people wear masks. People who are willing and not willing to wear masks are artificially labeled as groups and this causes conflicts. Masks are given more political meaning. The pollution and waste caused by the use of masks. And when it comes to protecting ourselves from viruses and protecting others, can we still pursue our right to choose whether or not to wear masks? Should this behavior be voluntary or mandatory? These issues are frequently mentioned. So I want to discuss with my audience these unavoidable problems about masks in my thesis project, which may includes culture difference, environment, psychology, technology and privacy.

 

About my thesis project, I roughly have the following three ideas:

1. An interactive exhibition.

There are two walls in the exhibition. The positive side lists the remarks that support wearing masks, and the negative side is the remarks that do not support wearing masks. Then there will be two routes for tourists to choose: the first is a route that must wear a mask, and the other is for audiences who do not want to wear a mask. There will be a glass wall between the two routes, so they can see each other. There will be a space formed by projection and electronic screen in the exhibition, and there will be countless enlarged floating virus patterns on the screen. I hope to make people feel this invisible threat in a concrete form of the virus. So at this time, whether or not to wear a mask may affect people’s behavior and psychological changes. For example, if the audience is on the side where the mask is not worn, people will tend to walk faster. And when the audience on both sides finally leaves, they will inevitably reunite at the exit. The gathering of people with different ideas is the epitome of our current society.

2. A device placed in a public area.

Perhaps it is a super big mask placed in a crowded public area, like markets or squares. The audiences can use marine balls to simulate virus to attack the mask. I want to swap the positions of people and viruses to make people understand the role of masks. The mask sculpture will looks like a large wall. But there will be many holes in the mask. Virus-like marine balls cannot pass through due to size restrictions, but people can see the face of the person on the other side through these small holes. I want to express the concept that masks can isolate viruses but cannot isolate people.

3. A VR or computer game.

Players can choose to wear a mask or not to wear a mask in the game. Players who choose not to wear a mask will have higher clothes viscosity in the game than players who wear a mask. Therefore, when exploring the map in the game, players who do not wear masks will stick more viruses, and the weight of the virus will slow down their speed. When the virus stuck to a player reaches a certain amount, the player will become a “boss” existence, and other players need to eliminate him to avoid sticking to the virus. In the process of being attacked by other players, I think this can simulate the process of some people being hated because they accidentally infected with a virus. In the process of trying to eliminate the boss players, the players can concretely experience the hostile behavior of the group towards the minority with different opinions while wearing or not wearing masks. Viruses in the game will have a lifespan, and will die if they do not stick to the player in time. Therefore, the goal of the game is to simulate the spread of the virus in reality and finally let everyone use various ways to keep away from the virus and ultimately prevent its spread. In this process, masks played a key role.