Henry Geldzahler Project

This is the tumblr I created about Henry Geldzahler, his work life, his personal life, his public life, and his relationships.

http://henrygeldzahlerevidence.tumblr.com

-Isabella

personal artifact/heirloom

My personal artifact/heirloom that is deeply connected to who I am today is my ring.


It was a gift from my mom. After deciding that I was going to quit Notre Dame and apply to art schools, I also decided that I would change my name as a way to give myself a new start on my life.
My parents and family have wanted me to change my name since I was 18 and I didn't see the need to change my name at the time but after quitting school, I felt that it would be appropriate to get a new name to start a new chapter of my life.

In Korean culture, you get a new set of spoon and chopsticks or ring with your new name engraved when you change your name. Both are objects that you keep on your side all the time or use all the time and people believe that it enforces your new identity and erase your old one.

I went through a very eventful few years before I changed my name(emotionally and physically) and I literally felt like a new person after I got my new name and went through the legal process to change it legally in the system.

There are times that I sometimes wonder why I chose to come here but looking at this ring reminds me who I was before and now and also remind me that the past I have is not an option for me anymore and I am here now for a reason.

-JUWON

"To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang"

Rachel Rostad - "To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang" (CUPSI 2013 Finals)



To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang
When you put me in your books, millions of Asian girls across America rejoiced! Finally, a potential Halloween costume that wasn't a geisha or Mulan! What’s not to love about me? I’m everyone’s favorite character! I totally get to fight tons of Death Eaters and have a great sense of humor and am full of complex emotions!

Oh wait. That’s the version of Harry Potter where I’m not fucking worthless.

First of all, you put me in Ravenclaw. Of course the only Asian at Hogwarts would be in the nerdy house. Too bad there wasn't a house that specialized in computers and math and karate, huh?

I know, you thought you were being tolerant.
Between me, Dean, and the Indian twins, Hogwarts has like...five brown people? It doesn't matter we’re all minor characters. Nah, you’re not racist!
Just like how you’re not homophobic, because Dumbledore’s totally gay!
Of course it’s never said in the books, but man. Hasn't society come so far?
Now gays don’t just have to be closeted in real life—they can even be closeted fictionally!

Ms. Rowling. Let’s talk about my name. Cho. Chang.
Cho and Chang are both last names. They are both Korean last names.
I am supposed to be Chinese.
Me being named “Cho Chang” is like a Frenchman being named “Garcia Sanchez.”

So thank you. Thank you for giving me no heritage. Thank you for giving me a name as generic as a ninja costume. As chopstick hair ornaments.
Ms. Rowling, I know you’re just the latest participant in a long tradition of turning Asian women into a tragic fetish.
Madame Butterfly. Japanese woman falls in love with a white soldier, is abandoned, kills herself.
Miss Saigon. Vietnamese woman falls in love with a white soldier, is abandoned, kills herself.
Memoirs Of A Geisha. Lucy Liu in leather. Schoolgirl porn.
So let me cry over boys more than I speak.
Let me fulfill your diversity quota.
Just one more brown girl mourning her white hero.

No wonder Harry Potter’s got yellow fever.
We giggle behind small hands and “no speak Engrish.”
What else could a man see in me?
What else could I be but what you made me?
Subordinate. Submissive. Subplot.

Go ahead. Tell me I’m overreacting.
Ignore the fact that your books have sold 400 million copies worldwide.
I am plastered across movie screens,
a bestselling caricature.

Last summer,
I met a boy who spoke like rain against windows. -
He had his father’s blue eyes.
He’d press his wrist against mine and say he was too pale.
That my skin was so much more beautiful.
To him, I was Pacific sunset,
almond milk, a porcelain cup.
When he left me, I told myself I should have seen it coming.
I wasn't sure I was sad but I cried anyway.
Girls who look like me are supposed to cry over boys who look like him.
I’d seen all the movies and read all the books.
We were just following the plot.







---------



She might have glossed over some facts but I felt that she had a point that many people don't see in the book in the first time reading.
The reaction from people in the comment section is also worth taking a look. It's almost surprising how much hate she receives from people, especially from Asians..


-Juwon

white man's burden

If privilege was visualized...


http://leftycartoons.com/2008/10/08/the-straight-ablebodied-rich-white-mans-burden/




This was an image I saw awhile back but I felt this more strongly in the past month because many of my friends posted on what their thoughts were on current situations and demonstrations.

The most I see people's posts, I felt that privilege is very near sighted..


-Juwon

Russel Wright final project

 

Russel Wright's design

 

Since the midterm, I was trying to find what would make a good artifact for Russel Wright.
I felt that his design had the essence of industrial design in 1940s-60s and I wanted to somehow incorporate that into my project.

I didn't want to just talk about a piece that explain his life or personal life or pieces of his design because I felt that during midterm, a lot of that was covered in the presentation and in the blog.


Originally I wanted to do a collage but as I worked on the collage, I realized I was just pasting images of his design onto a piece of paper. Looking at his work, I thought one of the most significant thing he did was creating his design legacy -"good design is for everyone." I wanted to have that to be part of this project and create an artifact that embodies his legacy.


I found this old tape dispenser that reminded me of the design language in the American industrial design in the 50-60s and Wright's own design in terms of the curves and its simple shape and also its color.

I started experimenting with the tape dispenser and how I could utilize it.




I have been playing with the idea of creating scenery on found objects recently and I wanted to try to make this tape dispenser into an object that I use to illustrate Wright's idea of simple design.

Below are the examples of the method I used on a different found object.

I wanted to incorporate Wright's ideas and illustrations from his book "Guide to Easier Living" because I felt that it had all of his basic idea of what design should be. It felt more inclusive than trying to just draw or paste few of his products.

I collected some of his illustrations that I felt best describe what his design was.



I decided to include a scene of a picnic because he believe that for easier living, when there's an occasion with guests, it should be the guests and hosts preparing the meal and entertainment together and picnic was an perfect example of that.
Another scene I included as part of the work was a scene of people eating a buffet style meal inside the house, which is also another example of the "easier living".

I chose to do drawings of those particular scenes because it not only showed Wright's idea of what design should be, but also showed what life was like in 1940-60s.
At the time, a lot of people were moving from cities to suburbs and planned neighborhoods where people didn't know each other. People started hosting dinners to get to know neighbors and this new culture of meals/entertainment was started. However, things were very formal and until Wright's new idea of dinner/entertainment was introduced as a cool new way to feed and entertain guests, it was a very burdensome event.



I also wanted to somehow incorporate the image of his house at Dragon Rock into my art.
I experimented with different pieces that were natural(moss, leaves, twigs) on the dispenser but most did not feel suitable for the art because colors were too strong or the shape didn't match organic but smooth curves of the dispenser.

I found shavings of wood in the shop and I really enjoyed the volume it created without heaviness. I piled it in the empty part of the dispenser and I really liked how it seemed to recreate what I saw at the Manitoga house(the flat top with plants).




So below is my piece of art dedicated to Russel Wright's life, design, and ideas.

- Juwon

3 ways gay rights agenda has perpetuated oppression

http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/12/3-ways-the-gay-rights-agenda-has-perpetuated-oppression/?utm_content=buffer8512e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer



3ways gay rights agenda has perpetuated oppression

"The gay rights movement has won rights and recognition that largely serve the interests of white, wealthy cisgender gay men to the detriment of poor queers and queer people of color, and to the detriment of racial and economic justice more generally.

Again, these are victories for the only most enfranchised gay people. Thus, they are mechanisms for perpetuating injustice."

I've never thought of institution of marriage in depth and agreed that LGBTQA could start with marriage for equal rights movement for visibility for wider rights. After reading this article it completely changed my idea on marriage for LGBTQA community and the underline of what marriage is.

-Juwon

Transgender liberation, class politics & anarchism

http://www.wsm.ie/c/transgender-liberation-class-anarchism

"Persecution of minorities tends to increase in economic downturns and 539 trans people were murdered in Europe between 2008 and 2010."



 This article makes an excellent point that I think is overlooked a lot of times.. True liberation of gender issues cannot be solved solely through revolution focused only on class. It will not automatically solve the gender issues without considering gender, sex, race, and sexuality.

Another interesting point made in this article is how the Trans community is somewhat reluctantly included by the rest of LGB community as it's written below:

"Recently, trans people have made huge progress in fighting f"or their liberation, and almost all major lesbian and gay organisations have become lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations. Trans people’s inclusion in those organisations has not been an easy battle though, despite the fact that transgender people (notably Sylvia Rivera) have been prominent in fighting for queer liberation, including in the Stonewall riots. One reason LGB organisations were reluctant to accept trans people was that they saw them as an obstacle to gaining respectability and becoming assimilated into mainstream capitalist society. Trans people are sometimes more visibly queer than lesbian and gay men, and in modern gay male culture, especially, there is an emphasis on gaining acceptance from straight people by being as traditionally masculine as possible."




- Juwon