Ambidexterity
Experience discomfort and participate in a 10 day body intervention.
Brief Objective
Insight
In order to learn, we must first unlearn.
Big Idea
Ambidexterity.
For this brief we were tasked to identify what it is that causes us to experience both comfort and discomfort, through finding the various behavioral and physical characteristics that we possess.
We have been challenged to step away from our own situations and unpack our personal level of discomfort by executing a body intervention, which is the disruption of the body’s regiment or routine, by causing it to experience a new or unfamiliar activity.
We were expected to conceptualise on what removes us from our comfort zones, the intervention needed to be radical, visible and happen over a period of 10 days. By engaging with the brief we would grow a better understanding of individuals that we may have had previously judged, because of our belief systems; social conditioning and social standing.
The body intervention was documented using a blog, where we were we had a balance between self-reflection and relevant research of our concepts.
My initial concept idea fell under beauty ideals and the constant favouring of fairer-skinned women over dark-skinned women in media and society, but I had hit a dead end with execution ideas. Fortunately, I had a timely ‘happy accident’, which left me without the function of my right-hand. This pushed me towards working with the concept of dual-dominant hands and ambidexterity, which is the ability to use both hands equally (dual-dominance).
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This concept communicates to the left-handed population that is not well represented in media, as they account for about 10 percent of the global population.
I have conducted a Vega Healthy Brand Analysis on Woolworths Holdings Limited, as I have assessed their Good Business Journey Report that indicates what they are currently doing to be a sustainable brand.
Vega defines a brand “as a particular and unique construct that creates, communicates and sustains value for all its stakeholders through its products and/ or service”.
According to Cook et al (2010), the concept of a healthy brand is one that considers the idea of identity, value, sustainability and communication authenticity, as well as being able to move away from being solely profit-focused and business driven (Sustainable insight, 2010).
The Healthy Brand criteria are used to assess a brands positioning as well as establish its overall wealth. In a world where the ‘new’ consumer mindset reigns we begin to understand the urgency to understand issues that deal with sustainability and responsibility. Brands need to adapt to the ongoing environmental change as society continuously impacts the planets capacity to provide for us.
The beauty of my body intervention is that it is a constant learning process, as I continue to live in ‘discomfort’. What I can conclude with is that this experience has been equally emotionally and physically straining on me.
During the 10 day period I had been fighting endlessly to remain positive and remind myself that this was a ‘happy accident’, but every day I seem to feel more and handicapped. Instead of experiencing enlightenment and an awakening, my mind felt like it was battling with itself not to fall into the depression trap that has been set-up in there.
So I’ll be ending this off with the satisfaction of the opportunity to challenge myself.