The Creative Path
Design thinking & the Virtual Closet
A reflexive journey from social psychology and performing arts to a virtual reality and documentary filmmaking towards empathy.
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The design process of the Virtual Closet Experience started behind the walls of
the University of Arts London - Central Saint Martins - as a creative project for my Master's degree in
Applied Imagination to the Creative Industries.
The creative approach taken throughout the development of the Virtual Closet has always included
self-reflexion, performing arts, comedy, filmmaking and Social Behaviour. As a result, the social masks and the virtual reality glasses bring the same meaning for those who use them: to hide.
Little did I know that my reflexive journey would take me to a kind of project that can change people's lives. Find below the 6 steps and questions that inspire the Virtual Closet.
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Skype Chat
Talking about ourselves is not easy. What would you do if a roast chicken called you via Skype and asked the following question:
Why are you amazing?
The mask
Four couples have been invited to a picnic. While wearing a mask, they should share the feeling of using it.
What's the colour of your Mask?
Stand-up Comedy
On a typical day, a man jumped into a public school in Brazil. He wanted to share much more than his own story, he wanted to know:
What inspires you?
Make-up
What if we unite performing arts, politics, comedy and make-up as a strategy to be seen and heard?
A different mask with a positive approach.
Who's the one you see in the mirror?
Pride
After having figured out that the LGBTQ+ community would be the target of the next research, the question then was:
What's your place in society?
THE VIRTUAL CLOSET
An opportunity to be inside of a place that can help you relate to other people's struggles.
How can a virtual closet help people to promote positive thinking towards life?
What people say about it?
Sharing is always caring.
You made me laugh and also realise that people think that I am amazing. I just had the best experience of my life and it was all I needed today.
Iulianna - Romenia
(about the Skype Chat Project)
I am sure our teenagers will be inspired from now on. It was really good to hear that we can change our future with so many positive attitudes.
Ruan Carlos - Brazil
(about the Stand up Comedy Project)
It is incredible that there are still people that feel shame in being at the Pride. This is a space for us to walk with our heads up high. We are all human beings!
Xavier - Irland
(about the Pride Project)
I didn't have any idea that some of my friends could pass through this suffocating experience to use a mask everyday. Besides, I never have to use a mask like that.
Laura - Portugal
(about the Mask Project)
Your make up is fantastic! I wish I could use mine like you do. I am a professional drag queen, and my parents hate me for that. So I never use make up when I am not working.
Agus - Scotland
(about the Make-up Project)
It is an important experience to be spread. People have to understand that the closet situation can make people suffer and sad. I am shocked by the voices I heard and I totally emphasise with most of them having been in the closet for years myself.
Patrick - U.S.A
About the Virtual Closet Project
The place it has started.
The #1 University of Fashion and Design in the World
Central Saint Martins - UAL
MA Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries is within the programmes of Culture and Enterprise int the University of the Arts London. This a course about creative thinking and covers all the process of creation inside of our minds, applied to the development of corporate strategies within the creative industries.
The course reaches its climax with the planning and execution of the Degree Show, which is an important showcase for Central St. Martin’s students’ individual and collective achievements. ... In my case, I developed the Virtual Closet Experience.
There are people who can achieve huge success in life, while adding a bit of fun and a splash of colour to this increasingly grey world.