Coping Mechanism
Media & Performance Production (MAPP) is a program co-coordinated by the Department of Film & Media and the DAN School of Drama & Music at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. The Media and Performance Production Major Project (MAPP 400 / Fall 2022 & Winter 2023) is a practice-based capstone course supervised by Dr. Sojung Bahng. In this course, students explore digital media projects that intersect audiovisual productions and live arts through interactive, augmented, and immersive media. The course culminates in a public installation and performance showcasing their work. Coping Mechanism focuses on how MAPP 400 students navigate environmental changes like the COVID-19 pandemic, cultural adjustments, and social challenges. It provides a space for students to address mental health issues, discover artistic talents, and connect with others in a world where familiar constructs are dismantled and realities blurred.
SHOWCASE TITLE: Coping Mechanism
LOCATION: (Black Box) Studio Theatre 104, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
DATES: March 25th
SHOWCASE HOURS: 3:00 pm – 8:30 pm
OPENING CEREMONY AND PERFORANCE: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
ARTISTS: Emina Arase, Richelle Cai, Zachary Everitt, Kaelin Grassie, Seymour Irons, Claire Matthews, Siobhan Mcmahon, Daniela Mendoza, Erin Piggott, Weijia Ran, Madeleine Smith, Qing Sun, Haofan Wang, Chutong Yu, Freda Zhou
PROJECT SUPERVISOR & SHOWCASE DIRECTOR: Sojung Bahng
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR & THEATRE TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR: Brian Frommer
CURATORIAL MANAGER & VIDEOGRAPHER: Jung-Ah Kim
SUPPORTED by DAN School of Drama & Music and Department of Film & Media, Queen's University
Projects
Refraction, 2023, Interactive Performance and Installation
Claire Matthews, Daniela Mendoza, Erin Piggott, Madeleine Smith
Refraction is a commentary on the mundanity of conversations, life, and being. Although they all exist in the same way, they are altered by the intricacies of a person’s perception of themself.
Connecting Across Borders, 2023, Digital Performance
Freda Zhou
This digital performance concerns Freda and her friends' lives in foreign countries, including Canada, Australia and the UK. The work represents diaspora and friendship across borders, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Silent Growl, 2023, Digital Performance
Richelle Cai
The project is about the strict Zero-COVID policy in China and represents how the policy has affected the individual's lives, including the artist and her family's. The digital performance uses motion graphics, video and dance to represent this theme poetically.
Caged: A Metaphor, 2023, Media Installation & Performance
Kaelin Grassie
Caged: A Metaphor touches on the pandemic's impact on performing artists. Kaelin uses projection mapping installation and performance to show how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her life as a dancer and artist.
Planet Wake Up, 2023, Augmented Reality (AR) & Media Installation
Seymour Irons
Planet Wake Up showcases Seymour's artistic development fostered during the pandemic and aims to promote and inform on ways of connecting deeper with our inner selves through creative practice.
Untitled, 2023, Projection Mapping Performance
Zachary Everitt
This projection mapping digital performance by Zachary explores the artist's mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The work reveals a glimpse into his everyday shame and struggles affected by social isolation.
Two Worlds: Japan and Canada, 2023, Media Installation & Performance
Emina Arase
The project shows Emina's lives in Japan and Canada. As a Japanese international student living in Canada, she represents how her two worlds intersect and are internalised in her everydayness by using the projection on her body.
The Ghost Act, 2023, Digital Performance
Siobhan Mcmahon
The Ghost Act poetically represents Siobhan's life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic experience is associated with her childhood memories around isolation, so she reconnected her memories and artistically expressed her feelings through dance.
Four Seasons, 2023, Digital Performance & Virtual Reality (VR) Video
Chutong Yu
This project is created based on the artist's real-life experience during quarantine. The work shows the transition of people's moods during self-quarantine: feel fresh and relaxed at first, gradually start to feel bored, then become irritable, and finally, feel hopeless.
Hot Pot, 2023, Virtual Reality (VR) Documentary
Qing Sun
This autobiographical VR documentary shows Qing's life with her companion Hot Pot. As a Chinese international student, she shares her life in Canada and the deep affection and connection with her dog Hot Pot.
( ) project, 2023, Augmented Reality (AR) Installation
Weijia Ran
The AR installation project reveals the issues around the mass media and misinformation about the covid-19 pandemic. Weijia explores how people interact with the mass media and questions how we can read the truth behind it and generate empathy for the disaster.
The Mask, 2023, Virtual Reality (VR) Film
Haofan Wang
The Mask is a VR fiction film directed by Haofan Wang. The story represents how the pandemic could affect personal love lives and generate violence. Haofan also explores how immersive media can generate new storytelling conventions and spectacles.
