Demi de Vries

Rot/on a remedy for brain rot

"Four hours a day is about 17 years of your life." I came across this text while scrolling through Instagram. It got me thinking about how I mindlessly waste my free time endlessly scrolling through nonsense videos. Brain rot is how I define this phenomenon.

With my project, I want to convince the Dutch population suffering from brain rot to reduce their social media use. My design serves as a form of harm reduction: a withdrawal method that helps build resistance to scrolling addiction.

For this purpose, I designed a lounge chair that raises awareness about the addictive nature of social media platforms, without completely losing its benefits. The chair allows the user to experience a "rock bottom." While a compilation video about the dangers of brain rot plays, the chair slowly folds. The user is forced to sit hunched over and experiences the constricting effect of brain rot.

The video ends with concrete steps to protect yourself from brain rot, just as the chair opens up again. The shape of the chair resembles a pill strip, symbolising a form of medication for brain rot.