The Aura’s Standstill

By Giulia Costanzo

Topic: Personal Data

Medium: Object

Material: Books

Institute: Politecnico di Milano

Year: a.a. 2023-2024

The infopoetry shows my struggles with migraines and the ephemerality of daily routines. These episodes are visually manifested through water and watercolor stains on corresponding pages, mirroring the “scintillating scotoma” I experience during attacks. The liquid dissolution of handwritten commitments underscores the impact of migraines, rendering the text unreadable: a representation of how my life is forced into a temporary standstill. Printed text messages serve as both markers for attack days, illustrating their frequency, and as digital imprints of these episodes.

Featured image of the project The Aura’s Standstill

Complementary image of the project The Aura’s Standstill

Metaphor used:

Three agendas -> three years of my life. Water stain -> ""scintillating scotoma"" I see when I have an episode. Liquified text -> activities that get interrupted by these attacks. Text messages as page markers -> digital trace of the episodes.

Intended Meaning:

Make the users empathize with people suffering from migraine with aura and raise awareness on this not-so-well-known issue, by making them understand what it feels like to experience an aura (that being the least understood part of the disorder).

Source:

WhatsApp messages from 2021 to 2023, traceable through the app by searching for “emicrania”.