The term “stigma” is from Latin and means “mark”, “stain”, “point”, but it came also from the greek language, and in this case the meaning is “to sting” and “to mark”.

It was used in the history with the significance of to imprint, to brand with fire on the body, a social disadvantage of the bearer (designated as a person to avoid),

Actually, in our society, the word “stigma” is used with a partial related meaning, and it’s the measure wherewith the society divides people in categories.

This diversification happens on the base of the traits that are considered “natural” or “normal”, the traits that allow the integration in the community.

It doesn’t mean to identify the individual only as a member of a specific category, and they deserve to be recognized in its whole because  they could distinguish themselves from others based on their features.

 

This project wants to focus on the marginalization that the society directs to old people, particularly the one with a disease, excluding them from everyday life to the point of isolation.

The video shows the actions accomplished by a person with Parkinson, combined with other movements from a creature with human features, who has the role of an alter ego of the elder, that displays in this way an emotional dimension which belongs to the mental state where the person is.  

The advanced stadium disease brings the patient to have: tremors, hallucinations that cause collisions with the objects around them or to freeze completely because of colours changing of the floor, difficulty walking, risk of falling and consequent inability of stand up again, inexpressiveness, depression, insomnia and expressing problems.

The representation of this illness was born after an accurate study of the psychological dimension and the movement of the patient, my grandfather, which led me to notice a deterioration of the person, above all in the depressive dimension, that increase in correspondence with the behaviour of the society towards him.

Marginalizing a person with different behaviours, that don’t conform with the “normal” standards, brings a person to close inside their own house because of the shame of being seen by others.

This is a crossed theme, very pertinent to our community, which exclude other cultural dimensions from everyday life because they are considered different.

The choice of scenography and costume wants to show the wealthy dimension of the patient in relation to the emotional sphere and of the abandonment of the person, leaving at his own memories and destiny.