This is a photo of my cousins and my grandma. We're like the poster children for multi-cultural america. Obviously this was taken in the 80s. I'm around six or seven in this picture.

more thoughts on thesis

Before you read this you should read my first post about my thesis topic. I've been thinking about my thesis topic. I want to distill in down to something that is not too abstract that it's hard to illustrate graphically. I was thinking about my perception about being biracial and how growing up in Hawaii where is common to be biracial/multi-racial. I know that other people struggle with belonging to one ethnic group or another, but I don't. So the more that I read about it the more I think to myself how not only is it a problem that people percieve me to be one race and not two. But, it also bothers me that I never had to deal with this until I went to college.

I can remember the first time I became aware that multi-racial people got harassed. I was home watching Ricky Lake (remember when she had a talk show) and the topic was biracial families. I remember thinking how weird it was that these people were talking for an hour about their racial background and were getting so worked up about it. Now I could go on and on about the subject. But then I was like,"your biracial big whoop" why are you on TV yelling about it. I know that sounds really insensitive, but you have to remember that as a teenager in Hawaii, I didn't ever consider myself part of a minority group.

Shortly after my brother moved from Hawaii to Seattle and took a class at Seattle Central Community College called Challenging the Matrix. It was a core studies class about examining Social Sciences from a alternative perspective. In that class they had a whole section on racial politics in the United States. He was assigned a paper on his personal experience with racism. He couldn't do it. At that point in his life he had never experienced racism. I have always felt the same. I never experienced racism or prejudice before I moved away from home. I was part of the majority in Hawaii.

I'm going home for a wedding on July 13th. On my visits to home,I never thought about the transition I make from minority to majority. This time I'm really going to pay attention to my behavior and feelings about my status.


Some links about interracial families
http://www.diversitydtg.com/articles/interracial_families.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa
http://www.enterprisehonolulu.com/html/display.cfm?sid=176
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0828/p03s01-ussc.html

Design Inspiration

Some links to design/ers I like
http://joshuadavis.com
http://adbusters.org/home/
http://www.goodmagazine.com/
http://www.treehugger.com/

Drafts

These are rought drafts of my book covers. Part of the story (without giving too much away) is that the characters are different than everyone else. The first half of the book is the main characters recolection of her childhood, and how she slowly became aware of her difference, her place in the world outside her boarding school, and how "normals" will percieve her for the rest of her life.

I'm going to try to work on some handmade type before the next class. I think handwritten type is really personal and beautiful. That style will reflect what is happeneing in the story.










"comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric"
--Amazon.com

Inspiration

What am I inspired by. I've always found this question to be hard. My immediate response is always other people's work. I particularly love illustration. Art Department Julie West. But don't nessesarily think that is really a thesis topic. I also am inspired by instrumental music, specifically indie instrumental. Mogwai Pelican Explosions in the Sky Godspeed You Black Emperor Feminism inspires me Kathleen Hanna said it best. SO i guess you could say that gender and racial politics inspires me. I guess that bring me full circle to my original thesis that is racial identity and people percieving you in away that you do not percieve yourself. So maybe a real basic topic for me would be self perception.

here is my assignment for the past week. I have something I have to do today so I will be missing class. I'm not to crazy about these designs anyway. If I had more time I would start from scratch again.















If you click on the thumbnails you should get sent to my flickr page. The bigger size jpgs are on flickr.

Developing the thesis

I was thinking about the thesis project. I had an idea that is a video involving transparent overlays of traditional styles of dress. I think this is something I have to do in aftereffects. But, I no idea how to use that program. Does anyone know if the timeline is similar to flash? I have no idea how time consuming making a short after effects video is. If it is something I should start working on now etc.

I don't know if anyone else is taking other classes this summer but I am and there aren't enough hours in the day. I have class Tuesday&Thursday for a required indesign class at parsons, and then I have this class Wednesday. Plus I have freelance projects. I feel like I just don't have enough time to do projects for either of the classes well. I am so glad that indesign will be done next Thursday. I'll post what I've been working on for this class later today.

photos from my hood

it's like an industrial cathedral

Book

I thought that I could do it, but I don't think that I have enough time to collect enough pictures encompassing organic food, punk rock and pretty boys. I was thinking that maybe I should do something with my neighborhood. I live near a industrial park in brooklyn. There is a strange beauty to the intersection of fading industrial factories and the uprising of the artists lofts. Maybe I could make the book with imagery from that indstrial environment.

This is one of the posters chosen from 25 by the class.

Parents

I don't think that I look like my dad either.

Sample Spread for Guernica Magazine

Poster from Intermediate Typography @ Parsons

That is me and my best friend Kaline. She is half Filipino and half white. We're both from Hawaii. When we are home being biracial is normal. But, when we are in the "mainland" she is classified as white.

That's my Mom.

my first post

For my thesis topic I will probably do something about my mixed race status.


I am half chinese and half portuguese. But, for whatever reason some people can't seem to process mutliracial people in their head. It has to be on thing or the other. Usually, I am immediately classified as asian. And, I don't nessesarily perceive myself that way. I see my self as Chinese (not asian) and Portuguese (not white). It's just really strange for me to know that people percieve me in a way that I don't percieve myself. There's nothing I can do about it. It's just how I look on the outside.

interesting fact:
13.5% of married couples in California are interracial, 10.2% in Washington State, and 8.5% in Oregon. This is compared to 5.9% in New York. http://www.frey-demographer.org/reports/Rainbownation.pdf