400+ word essay
As I was looking for artworks that connect with mine I found “Journal Rappé”. This was made by two rappers Cheikh “Kentish” Sene and Makhtar “Xuman” Fall. What these two did was use rap as a medium to make a more so user friendly way to understand politics for younger people “Drawing on their talent and experience, they created Journal Rappé, a regular video show where the two artists provide a long-form investigative report in the form of a hip-hop mixtape, rapping the current news in French and Wolof (Senegal’s dominant language). In doing so, they provide political information for young people in a language and through a culture young people feel is their own.” (Duncombe pg. 34) These two rappers a complicated topic for most and makes it into a way for some who wouldn’t understand into a way for them to understand even if it's a little, and that's what I did using the masks and paper as a way to make a physical example that represents self-loathing and masking as best as possible in a way that people can see. Another one is “Operation First Casualty” This is a street theater event done by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) to simulate the Iraq War. They wanted people to see them not just hear them “We wanted a demon-stration that depicted what we wanted to show people. . . . I don’t have to talk to them, I don’t have to show them a piece of literature. They can see what we are doing, and see that the soldiers in Iraq are going through a hell of a time and the occupation is just really oppressive and violent.” Through a fictional performance, the artistic activists brought the war home to the United States and made it “real.” (Duncombe pg. 36). And this is what I do with my intervention. I don’t want people to read about statistics they can’t understand. I want them to see that there are people suffering in silence, that there are people who go to war with themselves and some of the time sadly don’t emerge victorious on the other side. However what inspired me to go about my thought process when it came to making such a thing was Felix Gonzales-Torres’ “Perfect Lovers” “Gonzales-Torres took my breath away. I was struck by his use of everyday objects. In Untitled (Perfect lovers), he programmed two battery-powered, synchronized clocks (that kind of looked like the clocks you might see in a public school or doctor’s office). Gonzales-Torrey made the piece while his partner, Ross Laycock, was losing a battle with AIDS-related illness from 1987 to 1990” (Drew pg. 32). When I was thinking of my piece for this assignment I wanted it to be something simple something people can understand without needing to read to much into it and get lost, I wanted people to learn about it without interpretation and that was the most important thing to me, It’s simplicity and impact on the viewer.
Some people forget or don't know that Suicide is 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. and in the U.S. there were 1.5 million suicide attempts with 49,316 people who died all in In the year 2023 alone. People who were suffering in silence and masking their emotions for reasons unknown. Maybe they were told to do so by someone, maybe they felt a need to hide it, maybe they didn't think people would want to listen or acknowledge their struggle. I want to bring awareness with my intervention and break this stigma.
Videos / Images
https://youtube.com/shorts/Eb2Ys9rn9c0
https://youtube.com/shorts/4p2op3GfWxE
https://youtube.com/shorts/Eb2Ys9rn9c0
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