PROJECT : Distance
PERSONAL
2021

With the introduction of the concept of social distancing since COVID-19, people's perception of person-to-person distance have changed considerably. New York is a very complex and densely populated city, but paradoxically, a lot of energy is put into securing personal space. I think this phenomenon has intensified recently.

In the context of this thought, I conducted a small experiment. I gathered a few people in a very small space and forced them to move continuously. The distance created between the participants may form a certain pattern or may be infinitely chaotic. I carried out the project with the purpose of schematically recording this pattern.

Scientifically, the minimum distance that can prevent a viral transmission is about 6 feet. How much emotional distance do people actually need to feel comfortable with each other? The experiment was conducted by putting six people who were seeing each other for the first time in a 6 sq ft area, about the size of an elevator.

I predicted this to be a process of finding a series of distance agreements. Information created in random and extreme situations will be visualized as contour lines. I expected the chaotic movements to converge to a certain order.