Isle of Chair...

“The ups are always awaiting after the downs”

Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day.

Even before this pandemic hit, The World Health Organisation estimates that one in four of us will be troubled with a mental disorder in our lifetime.

Lots of people are really struggling on all sorts of levels.

For filmmaker Ivyy Chen, after she witnessed both friends and family experiencing depression and anxiety attacks, she turned to filmmaking to offer solace. Creating a story that she hoped “would comfort them at their lowest”, 

椅島 (Isle of Chair) is a wonderful, strange and poetic animation dedicated to anyone experiencing troubled times.

In it, a friendly giant explores an island that seems to be deserted, calmly searching for any chairs that have fallen over and placing them upright. There are no visible people in this world, but the still-steaming cups of tea sitting on the kitchen counter suggest that maybe there were until recently.

“I choose chairs because I feel they are so close to us and our lives that people aren’t really aware of them,” she explains. “They connect with people in different ways. As time passes by, people move from buses to airplanes to school classes to chairs at home, and they can all represent such different things.” From the chair in your bedroom you throw your clothes on at the end of the day to the one that’s associated with a specific family member, we all have relationships with so many chairs that we probably never stop to consider.

Sending you all big love this weekend and may your chairs stay upright…

Queen Marie

xxx