ITP Thesis Archive 2025

Project Description

double / knot is an interactive and experimental book that explores institutionalization and its connections to identity disturbance, social exclusion, and sense of belonging. It follows a narrator through a partially nonlinear series of handwritten excerpts and incomplete thoughts, layered with visuals in mixed media. Writing is paired with nontraditional applications of paper and print, with the genre living somewhere in between an artist’s book and a memoir.

At its core, it’s a narrative about the relationship to physical spaces as well as the lack of independence and identity, all in the context of spending extended periods in psychiatric institutions. Indirectly, it serves as a quiet sociopolitical commentary on healthcare policies and the legacy of deinstitutionalization in the United States, particularly in California.

The project itself does not argue against institutionalization. Rather, it highlights the coexistence of its ability to offer protection and support to those who need it and the resulting isolation and disconnection from the world outside.

Throughout my development, some of my guiding questions were:
• What are the effects of institutionalization on individuals who experience it over prolonged durations, often with conditions that made them vulnerable from the start?
• In what ways has the American behavioral healthcare system and its laws, across state and federal levels, both succeeded and failed to care for those it serves?

Technical Details

Printing:
Risograph printing on SF9450 in black and red Riso ink

Software:
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Processing, and Spectrolite

Cover:
Plywood and acrylic

Other materials:
Speckletone cardstock, black cardstock, vellum paper, kraft paper, and thread

Research/Context

Creative references + inspirations:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (novel)
Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen (memoir)
Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff (memoir)
It’s Such a Beautiful Day, Don Hertzfeldt (film)
White Ceiling, Parannoul (song)
Daniel Johnston's collection of art and sketches
Kelli Anderson's paper engineering work

Research:
Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, Brooklyn Museum
Understanding psychiatric institutionalization: a conceptual review, Queen Mary University of London
The Truth About Deinstitutionalization, The Atlantic
Out of the Shadows: Confronting America's Mental Illness Crisis, E. Fuller Torrey