STRAIGHT WHITE NIGHTMARE
IT WAS GLORY DAYS... FOR MYSOGNISTS, RACISTS, AND HOMOPHOBES
IF YOU COULD CONSIDER DOING SOMETHING OVER, EXPLAIN WHY YOU WOULD DO THIS AND WHAT YOU WOULD DO NEXT TIME?
I WOULD TRY AND LOOK THROUGH OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS IF I HAD MORE TIME TO SHOW THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY ARE CURATED, AND HOPEFULLY APPLY NEW TECHNIQUES TO MY OWN ZINE. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE FINAL COPY HOWEVER. ELABORATE ON HOW THIS PIECE LINKS WITH YOUR OTHER PIECES? WHAT IS THE COMMON THREAD? THIS PIECE CONNECTS TO THE THEME OF “BOUND AND BROKEN” AS IT REPRESENTS THE WAYS IN WHICH WE ARE BOUND TO THE PAST, AND THE WAYS IN WHICH WE HAVE BROKEN FREE FROM THE PAST. I HOPE TO SHOW THE READERS THE WAYS IN WHICH OUR OWN SOCIETY IS INCREDIBLY SIMILAR TO THE PAST AS WELL AS THE WAYS IN WHICH IT’S INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT FROM THE PAST, TO GENERATE REFLECTION ON THE WAYS IN WHICH WE HAVE GROWN OR LACK THEREOF |
Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
A majority of this piece relied purely on my curatorial skills. I had to skim through about 15 yearbooks and choose the ones with the best photos that told a story, and then use those photos to visually communicate a clear beginning, middle, and end. This process took about 1.5 weeks as I didn’t want to rush it. I don’t really have a way of measuring the success of my curation on this zine, but I feel incredibly content with the work I put in. Furthermore, I had to learn how to format a zine in pages, which took some trial and error, but I ultimately came out on top! One issue I had was with binding the books, I had to use glue binding which proved incredibly difficult. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists? A major inspiration for this piece was the movie “Roma”. Roma is all about memory, specifically the memories of Cuarón (the director), yet it feels incredibly universal, almost like a shared memory. When going through these books I felt oddly sentimental, despite the fact I was never there. I wanted to convey this same sense of universal applicability and the use of black and white allowed me to do this, just as it did in Roma. Furthermore, Cuarón simply lays down the past and allows viewers to understand together the issues of racism and class for themselves. I attempted to do the same, by laying down the past for the viewers and allowing them to see what a straight, white, nightmare it was for themselves. Some viewers may not get it at all, others may fully understand, its unique to everyone just like Roma. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements. I began by searching through old yearbooks which I was drawn to due to the sense of nostalgia they produced. After combing through many, I began to notice something very clear the yearbooks were almost 100% heteronormative and white, with men in power positions and women treated as objects to be won, such as in the prom queen photo shoots. I then decided to make a zine to communicate this dystopian society (per se) which used to exist by using purely photos from the yearbooks. I then searched for the most impactful photos, most related to misogyny which showed clear straight, white relationships. I then organized the photos based on which complimented each other and tried to create a story arc that began with spirit, turned into a dark misogyny, and ended with isolation and connection. I then formatted the book in pages. The books were then printed and blinded by hand. f. |