Saturday, June 7, 2014

MERYEM BATAN

MERYEM BATAN
“dunya”
2014
4:11
For this project, I reflected the sounds I hear in my everyday life. I chose some phrases that are ignorantly being used from other people and myself. I thought it can be offensive to use others voice; so, I used my own voice to represent these phrases. This also helped me to create an empathy with them and see the world from their eyes. As a Muslim, I compared what I hear, and what my brothers and sisters hear at the other side of the world in their everyday life.
This idea started to develop when I started to grow, and understand and see the real situation of the world. However, I wanted to focus more on to the Muslim people for this project, and reflect the hard times they are having. I also wanted to reflect the comfort that I feel and got used to as a person who was born, and live in the U.S.A. This comfort sometimes makes me think that everyone is having a fine life like I am having. However, with enough research you can see that life is not that simple; therefore, I also used and combined some sounds that I found in my researches, and created a contrast between these two different types of everyday sounds and lives.
When I was close to the end of the project, I felt so sad about the Muslim people’s situations, so I included few sentences to the end, which is related about our belief system. The sentences are “THEY WANT THIS DUNYA” and “WE WANT THE AKHIRAH”, which the term of ‘dunya’ means ‘the lower’ and refers to ‘this world’, and the term of ‘akhirah’ refers to ‘after life’ in Islam. And if anyone else makes someone suffer intentionally, s/he will payoff in the Akhirah, and will be punished for what s/he have done. 

JOSIAH LEE LOPEZ

JOSIAH LOPEZ
“Enter Escape Viajar”
2014
7:13
Around and outside the city of Denver, documenting sounds and images from of a variety of sources, I experience a constant motion in my everyday life. I enter a journey that begins by walking, riding the bus or taking the light rail to many a destination. The cities public transportation system is an abstract idea or notion for those who own a vehicle. Most of the time when people have a car the do not take the bus, If I owned my own vehicle I would not take public transportation because of the constant issues of waiting, dealing with irrational bus drivers and disgruntled patrons who ride the bus as well. My travels are sometimes rough and full of constant annoyance, the conflict of personalities are great. To deal with this I retreat to this alternate reality called the zone of enlightened headphone music distraction. It is were I put my headphones on, close my eyes and pretend to be this alien life form that is observing my environment for the first time. This particular piece is the study and observation of the urban landscape and the ritual of taking public transportation 

TERRY CAMPBELL

TERRY CAMPBELL
“Chrissy and Terry”
2014
3:27
When asked to create a piece of art about how I interact with ethnic minorities the first thing that came to mind was seeing my wife each day.  My wife is Spanish and an artist. Race has never been an issue in our relationship, the tensions in our relationship comes from the way we interact with one another.   These interactions are not always kind.  My first video attempt was a recording of my wife talking about her views on art and feminism.  The video became preachy and not art.  My final video shows our interaction and our struggle being artistes.  My video hints at aspects of our daily life without being obvious or pretentious.  The video invites the viewer into our world without explanation. 

STEPHANIE KANTOR

STEPHANIE KANTOR
“Mandarin Sounds: An Attempt to Learn”
2014
5:04
As my first solo adventure in China approaches in less than two weeks, I cannot stop thinking about the language barrier that I will face.  I have been studying Chinese ceramics and visual culture for the past year, yet I know absolutely nothing about the languages spoken there.  As I explore China, I will absorb as much visual culture and art as possible but when I need supplemental information, how do I communicate? In this video, I wanted to explore my honest attempt to begin to understand such a complex language and show the struggle of pronouncing sounds that are so different from my own.  My friend, Alex Creighton, was kind enough to introduce me to Mandarin, the pronunciation of vowels, consonants, tones, and basic phrases.

SIERRA GONZALES

SIERRA GONZALES
“VEINS”
2014
4:25
I drew inspiration from my great grandfather who sings the song “Albur de Amor” by Antonio Aguilar. My personal history has the blood of both white and Mexican people in my veins, giving me confusion as to which groups I belong. I was never fully immersed in Mexican culture, nor do I speak Spanish. I reflect on the feelings of isolation because I do not truly identify as one side or the other. I continue to cherish what I have of Mexican culture through cooking and the nostalgia of listening to my grandfather’s singing. I recorded video in both Boulder and Parker Colorado for this project.

REBECCA HOLT

REBECCA HOLT
“Sight and Sound”
2014
4:33
Naming is very important when it comes to identity and so is eye color. Those are both two things placed on and ID card you carry around on your persons. I am showing the ethnicity around me by photographing and recording people saying their names. These people are my friends, coworkers, family, and people I met on the street. They all represent the people I see in my everyday life and thus the ethnicity and race I see in my everyday life. This sound art piece incorporates the pairing of eye color and the audio of people saying their names to create a portrait of the different races and people I see in my everyday.

NICK PEASE

NICK PEASE
“Snow and Hip Hop”
2014
5:06
In my final year in Boulder as a University of Colorado undergraduate student, I have come to meet and befriend more people of other races and ethnicities than I had in the preceding for years at college, or my entire life for that matter. In August I did not know where I was going to live for the following school year until a friend of mine offered me a room in a house living with two other students; each of whom had moved to Boulder from Beirut, Lebanon. One proceeded to join my ski team, the CU Freestyle Ski Team, and the other was an aspiring rapper.
Through these two nice young gentleman, I was introduced to countless other rappers, skiers, and students, all of whom were of differing races and ethnicities than my own. I got to learn all about their lives back home and how they came to move to Boulder, Colorado. Hailing from places such as Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran, Nigeria, and Mexico, I was opened to worldviews both of the United States and of nations I knew little to nothing about. In this piece, titled “Hip Hop and Snow”, I attempt to expose these relationships with people who I consider to have become my close friends.

I spent many days in the mountains filming two skiers who were from Lebanon and Japan, and showing what it is that they love to do. Two rappers featured were Technickly (my roommate), and Khattaf, who have banded together to form a Lebanese-Kuwaiti duo called the Underground Rebels. Due to terms of their recording contract, Khattaf would not allow me to show his face to preserve his public image. These are my friends, and these are the things they do.

MILLIE WATTERS

MILLIE WATTERS
“Spiritually Commuting”
2014
4:33
As a University of Colorado - Boulder graduate student living in southwest Denver, I spend several hours or more per day commuting. When I am not traveling to and from Boulder, I am making trips to Denver either to gather with my faith community or attend an art or educational event.  In these liminal spaces the various cultures and encounters I have experienced throughout the day (both within my travel and in my common experience) have an opportunity to mingle.  An even greater constant in this time of personal introspection is my awareness of God and my spirituality. Prayers, songs, and wonderings lift up in the midst of transit.  My faith in Christ has consistently compelled me to move beyond comfort and across boundaries culturally. Jesus’ teachings and example have enriched my life in the area of building relationships with those who do not share my ethnic or racial heritage. Beyond relational engagement, I have been grafted into a spiritual family that represents every tribe, nation and tongue. Commuting is a metaphorical reminder that my present physical reality is not my spiritual finality.

JENNY LEE

 
JENNY LEE
“Conversation(s)”
2014
4:33

This work was an exploration into the everyday and how race and ethnicity play into my own everyday. I incorporated a two recordings of conversations with my mother. They overlap over one another and cause the viewer to feel as though they are within a busy area, they are hearing the same conversation I’ve had with my mother various times. The culture clash here is apparent in the way my mother only speaks in Korean while I speak in Mostly Korean, substituting English words only when I do not know the Korean for them. This is a great parallel for our relationship, I am always tailoring the things I say to her to suit her feelings and need. The image used was one I took after one of our most difficult conversations yet. The poem overlaid on top of it is one that discusses the constant stress and pull of having family members with whom one can never truly relate. In my mind my mother is a black hole, she absorbs and never lets go of what she wants and what she wants for me despite my own wishes. I am merely debris, fighting against her gravity and these are the conversations or the same conversation we have over and over.

FRANCESCA MCCONNELL

FRANCESCA MCCONNELL
“The Butt the Joke”
2014
2:22

The Butt of the Joke is a juxtaposition of stories of racism as told by my Hispanic mother and Caucasian father and footage of my Hispanic grandparents going about their daily lives.  Being half white and half Mexican, I often feel as if I can “pass” for Caucasian… and sometimes it is easier that way.  Racist jokes and comments against Hispanics have been made around me more times than I can count.  But it is time to stop ignoring my heritage by disregarding these remarks.  This video aims to show the human beings behind such ignorant comments and bring attention to the “subtle” racism that still goes on today so that others may think before they speak.

DONTÉ TURNER

 
DONTÉ TURNER
“I am What I am”
4:33
2014

Although there are many qualities and characteristics that define an individual, it is somewhat odd to think that one’s hair can be included in these defining moments. The style, length, texture, color, and other aspects of hair are all things that create uniqueness about us. People shave, donate, and buy hair to serve many purposes; it has the power to bring awareness to certain health issues, it can be depicted as a symbol for strength and even simply become a sort of fashion statement.  My every day involves spending least ten to fifteen minutes styling my hair. It is naturally curly, but because I live in such a dry climate, I spend endless amounts of money buying hair products to keep my hair moisturized and healthy. Living in a predominantly white community where most of the women have fine, straight hair, I do sometimes feel pressured to change my hair so that it is not so wild and kinky. However, I have grown to embrace my curly, textured locks because it is a part of my identity and it represents my culture.    

DANIEL YOON

DANIEL YOON
“A Walk In My Shoes”
2014
4:18

Using a device that most people use in their everyday, I have decided to film my everyday using the camera on my phone. My everyday consists of going to school and working at my mother’s liquor store (stereotypically) in which there are lengthy distances traveled. In between those times, I filmed the things that I see in my environment. It is not very eventful and exciting but it is routine in my everyday life. I recorded my eyes to display what sets my identity apart as an Asian American, specifically Korean American, to any other American. I also recorded walking in my shoes to be a metaphor for the viewer to see from my perspective. The sounds that I recorded are sounds that I hear for the majority of the day, which is at work. And the music I have included fit with the recorded clips in a lyrical manner.

BLANCA GUERRA

BLANCA GUERRA
“The Conversations We Don’t Have”
2014
4:33
The separation of family has influenced my practice in the past two years and this time apart has limited our dialog. Phone call conversations are the main source of communication, though at times they are missed. The Conversations We Don’t Have is a compilation of voicemail recording that my parents have left me from the past two years. This audio is both in English and Spanish and is paired with music that gives me a sense of nostalgia for both home and my parents. The visual is a combination of recreated memories and my current surroundings. Through this piece I hope to reflect the everyday of race and ethnicity with my own family through these missed conversations.