Winter 2022
What emotional baggage do you carry?
What emotional baggage do you carry around that holds you back in life?
What emotional baggage do you carry around that holds you back in life?
We all carry emotional baggage—quietly and invisibly—but rarely do we speak about it, let alone show it. This project began with a simple question: Why is it so hard to acknowledge the emotional baggage we each bear? After interviewing community members about personal struggles, we selected symbolic objects from a local thrift store to represent their stories. We then carried these objects—loud, clunky, awkward—through public spaces. The act made emotional weight visible and disruptive, something that couldn’t be ignored. In carrying these stories, we weren’t just moving objects; we were giving voice and space, tracing invisible threads between us, revealing how one person’s burden is never truly theirs alone.
Concept
Interview community members in response to the question “What emotional baggage do you carry around?”
Select symbolic objects from a local thrift store that metaphorically represent each person’s story
Tie each object to the rope one by one
Film the act of carrying the baggage in a site-specific location
Edit the footage into a cohesive narrative that links personal stories to collective experience