Cultural Gym #1: Healing Space
Research, Critical Design, Product Design, Experiential Graphic Design
Cultural Gym #1: Healing Space is the first installment of a critical experience design series called Cultural Gyms that examines the relationship between graphics, the built environment, identity construction, and capitalism. Cultural Gym #1 provides an immersive simulation that explores the concept of bodies as territories and the intersection between personal and collective identity, embodiment, and fashion. This approach considers the body as a site of social and cultural negotiation where identities are constructed and expressed. At the same time, fashion as a product is seen as a tool that enables individuals to claim agency over their bodies and express their identities through clothing and accessories.
Healing Space re-situates fashion products focused on Black female identity within a “simulation”, offering participants space to discuss prompts such as body shaming, objectification, and gender-based violence. By examining these power dynamics, individuals can collectively think about how the body is often used as a site of control, domination, and exploitation and gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which their bodies are shaped by cultural norms and societal pressures.
