For this intervention, again, I took a few elements from my quilt, before mounting them together - these elements are part of my sensory experience. I asked the participant to react to the elements, without having previous knowledge of the elements: What is the element? what is it used for? which sense should be used to experience the element? How does it make her feel? did it provoke any memory or emotion? The elements that I used are:
A fabric case packed with dry leaves
Bubble wrap
incentive oil
Photos
relaxing mix embroidery - Lyrics from "Lovesong" by the cure Dry leaves - She took them and sniffed them right away. she was happy to see them and rustle them to hear the sound and smelled them deeply. It created a good feeling and a nice childhood memory from when she was 2-3 years old, she used to go to a nursery in Jerusalem where the teacher was taking all the infants to the woods next the nursery during the fall, so the infants would run and play on the leaves just so she can listen and enjoy the rustling sound of it.
Bubble wrap - She interacts with it immediately, and started to pop the bubbles. She said she has mix feeling about it, she loves to pop the bubbles but she sees it now as a non-recyclable wrapping material that she would never purchase.
Incentive oil - I explained to her the scratch and sniff motif, and she enjoyed the smell, created a good feeling for her.
Embroidery - she immediately recognized the lyrics and the song, and said it was pretty but felt quite anachronistic from her point of view, housewives, oppressed women, the opposite of empowering women, seem like it made her feel uncomfortable.
Photos - I showed her some printed photos and ask her to tell me when she thinks of them and how they make her feel:
Snoopy - happy, she like snoopy. aren't we all?
The scream (from another interview - sad image) - although she said it's a very strong image, she didn't feel much about it, and talked about how famous it is and that there are many version of it.
Good photo K - she said it looks familiar but she doesn't like the style, and it doesn't do anything for her.
View of the ocean and the beach - nice, not more. earlier in the interview, we talked about her liking to go to the beach from time to time but a view of the beach and the big sea is not considered to be a good and inspiring image, but make her feel small, insignificant and lost.
A spreading her hands in front of the beach - she liked this picture, seem like the woman is happy, inspired, empowered.
A holding her grandmother's hand - sad image, thinking about the inevitable death and shared a story from her work and relationship she's been having recently with two women who are clearing their homes to reduce their existence, as part of their progressing closer to the death.
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