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Madlen Burton

This project focuses on the side effects of the pandemic both in public and private space. After mapping my own side effects and how the places I was in effected how I felt. I created an instruction map for anyone else to map their own side effects. Even though this experience has been personal to each of us I believe that many of us have felt the same throughout the last year, however, sharing experiences and feelings sometimes still feels like a boundary. The map directs all the feelings we took upon us during the pandemic and symbolises the struggles that each of us has had throughout. There is no normal, there was never a normal. There is the known and the unknown and as we go through life most of the time we seem to be scared of the unknown and therefore believe it isn’t normal. 

Mapping Side Effects by Madlen Burton

relieved.
suddenly I was safe.
the streets, the city, calm.
everything was distanced.
for a moment,
I was excited.
slow
I could walk the streets without
feeling anxious.
I could sleep at night
without feeling overwhelmed.
grateful for comfort
but,
life was limited.
the world felt divided.
lonely, without the comfort of family and friends
I felt helpless towards others
sad
whilst I was constricted to my own home
the city is stressed, depressed
tired
how will it recover?
how will I recover?
will I ever feel calm again?
will empty places and
wiped out spaces ever have the
same effect.
conversations feel judged
people feel pressured
nervous
the city
the People
me
normal They say
we have changed
I have changed
the city has changed 

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