Reduction, Erasure, and Power
Snigdha Pamula
When examining the socio-political connotations of the intersection of race, gender through the lens of power, one can see two distinctive social classes emerge: the socio-normative and the “divergent.” The thesis aims to investigate how the divergent can have increased autonomy by creating a guideline for intersectional sensitive inquiry. It is a dynamic, on-going, evolving archive of cultural references in popular culture: specifically movies, television, and literature that are both thriving and ineffective at creating a diverse platform for equal representation of all genders, races, and classes.
Are We All Racist: The Ethnographic Research
Ethnographic research of the space, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which aims at creating a safe space for the marginalized to share their issues and opinions using poetry as a medium. The multiples of the posters represent the diversity of the performers who inhabit the space.
Can't Believe We Made It
Using the original theme from Beyonce's video Apeshit, white canvases slowly colored by spray paint with each phase shown individually. The use of spray paint was emblematic of a practice that runs into issues with authority. The negative connotations associated with vandalism could draw parallels to the police brutality targeting the African American community in America.
Apeshit 2.0
Using imagery from the Louvre, specifically the pieces that were used in the narrative of the video, Apeshit, explorations of the word "Apeshit" typographically as another iteration to address the insanity of the issue that is the underlying message through type overlaying it on the same imagery.
Reduction, Erasure & Power
The manifesto is a dynamic, on-going, evolving archive of cultural references in popular culture: specifically movies and television that are both thriving and ineffective at creating a diverse platform for equal representation of all genders, races, and classes. They are fluid standards to understand and confront institutional racism and sexism, both as consumers and creators of content.
Celestial
Celestial is a data visualization of the data collected from my cultural probe that attempted to understand how people of all races perceived the concept of power and privilege despite coming from varying backgrounds and nationalities.The visual of the space through a lens that is unique to each observer is representative of one's biases and how they see the world through that lens.
The Soundtrack of America
The current political climate where scandals are normalized, the story of President DJT and the pornstar Stormy Daniels sounds like the soundtrack of the summer. It's everywhere. Using a reference to Kanye's album art for the Life of Pablo, this is the Soundtrack of America.
Repetition
A juxtaposition of two historical events where two victims were questioned for being victims to a similar crime, years apart.
Censorship
A juxtaposition of the epitome of female beauty, Venus of Willendorf with Instagram's policy against female nudity specifically female nipples.