What Does Space Mean in Lockdown?

 by Isaac Mead

An artist study I was completing recently got me thinking about spatiality and how our perception of personal space has been altered by the constraints of the pandemic. Mel Bochner is a conceptual artist I had been researching who explores how we live within a certain set of architectural modules defined by measurements, as well what delineates physical space. All this thinking about spatiality created an internal discussion where I considered what space actually is.

Mel Bochner, ‘Measurement Room”, 1969

Now more than ever I feel like I’m invading my own personal space as the routine proximity to others on the train to school, being crammed in the cafeteria and navigating the school corridors have become, at least for now, a thing of the past. From the beginning of the pandemic two metres defined and altered everyone’s collective sense of personal space; suddenly we were all hyper aware of who is where in relation to us and playing mental games calculating if at least two penguins lay between me and the stranger in the supermarket aisle. 

Individually we are now (for the most part) confined within the boundaries of our homes and the surrounding area, which can become overbearing very quickly. Personally over the past week I started thinking about how the constricted space has led me to live the same day, everyday at the moment; I walk down the same road to sit on the same bench to see the same faces of neighbours and then return home to sit at the same place at my desk to have the same lessons. This repetition compresses personal space into something inescapable that seems to make every thought louder. It feels all too easy to glance at the Google Classroom ‘To-Do List’ and immediately feel inadequate for not having completed it, as ultimately it feels like there is nothing else to do in the limited worlds we are all occupying. 

I’m now returning to this beginning bit of the article a few days later; after reflecting on what I had written I have found that whilst personal space can feel suffocating at times, often it can provide a much needed getaway as well. Every article I have researched on personal space has cited ways to ‘carve out personal space’ by doing things like separating your workspace and cutting down on screen time. As valid as this advice is I have found that my phone is how I can access my friends after a long day at ‘school’ and so not going on it in my room would prevent me from doing so. Working outside my room is also simply unrealistic as I expect it is in many circumstances. Instead I’ve found that going out on a walk everyday by myself and listening to music presents its own version of personal space where I am truly alone to think and enjoy what is around me. This dose of fresh air offers clarity and a general mood boost at the end of a long school day confined within my room.

Ultimately writing this article has aided me in reflecting on how the pandemic has changed the parameters of personal space at home and outside, which in turn obviously alters how people act and think in many different ways. Without giving a load of guidance I personally feel as though getting outside, no matter for how long each day, has benefitted my mental health over the past week and made my space feel less confined.