In Anxiety is a single-channel video created by Haodi Zhang that highlights the experience of living with anxiety. Through the use of shadow puppets, Zhang manifests the rise of anxiety in the modern age, and portrays her take on mental health and wellness.
Zhang captures the essence of anxiety through three key components: sound, symbolism, and color. By incorporating repetitive, lingering, eerie sounds, Zhang creates an auditiory experience that simulates the bodily tension of anxiety. As they feel anxiety from the sonic components, viewers identify with the puppets depicted experiences.
The piece focuses on anxiety throughout the day and in the workplace. The use of puppetry symbolizes the performance that those who suffer from anxiety must put on throughout their daily lives. People riddled with anxiety are forced to hide their emotions, as simply breaking down within a workplace is considered inappropriate. In Anxiety visually displays the colorless, bland world that anxiety inhabits, and questions the coping mechanisms that are so often used.