DESIGNER & CREATORJisu designs brands, stories & experiences.
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Personal project
- Duration: 1 weeks
Instead of mapping objects, I mapped emotions: where visitors smiled, stood still, or even cried. I named these emotional moments things like the Smiling Circle or Bored Square, treating them as artworks in their own right.
Using simple shapes, colors, and text, the map visualizes the emotional flow of the space. It serves not only as a guide, but also as a tool to reflect on one's own experience inviting the viewer to ask, “What kind of visitor was I today?”
I love visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Every Sunday morning, I walk around Central Park with a single coin in my pocket, then head toward the Met. There, I always feel something profound — something beyond words.
So I capture it with my phone and edit it later.
I realized that the most beautiful masterpiece in the museum is not what hangs on the walls, but us.
Museums are often seen as spaces for viewing artifacts or as symbols of colonial history.
But during my visits, I noticed that their deeper value lies in the emotions people experience there, such as moments of joy, boredom, or even sadness.
Instead of focusing on the objects themselves, I realized that mapping people’s emotions could reveal a richer story of what museums truly mean to visitors. Emotions could be treated as cultural “artifacts” in their own right.
I reversed the perspectives of the artwork and the audience.
How are our emotions flowing?
What are you feeling right now through the work?
Through this, can we learn what a museum truly is?
I created an “Emotional Map” that marks where visitors smiled, stood still, or cried. I named these spots things like the Smiling Circle or Bored Square. Using simple shapes, colors, and text, I visualized the emotional flow of the space. The map serves both as a playful guide and as a reflective tool.
The project reframed how we think about museums, not just as places to preserve history, but as living emotional landscapes. Through this, I learned how design can shift perspectives and encourage people to reflect on their own experiences in cultural spaces.