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THE HISTORY HOUSE

the-history-house

The struggle has always been inner, and is played out in outer terrains. Awareness of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn come before changes in society. Nothing happens in the “real” world unless it first happens in the images in our heads.

-Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera

I created this piece as part of a racial justice poster project. When coming up with ideas for the design, I knew that I wanted to create something that speaks to and pays tribute to the personal, internal growth from which movements for justice are born.

In the 23 years of my little life, I’ve been blessed to have walked alongside crazy cool people with wild, contradictory, profound stories. What I’ve gathered is that we’ve all come to understand and work for racial justice in different ways. Sometimes they mesh, other times they clash. At the same time, activism is changing. In this age of information, good PR is reality, something that every powerful institution is utilizing with deadening precision. Glossy commodified justice is circulated and consumed, while everyday struggles are left unreported, ridiculed, or tokenized.

For me at this point in time, this means taking it back to basics. Even as an artist, it would be stupid to think that one poster I make or even a lifetime of work could herald a movement or a better world. There are too many creative and dedicated people out there for it to be that easy. What I can do is share the things that have affected and inspired me: to learn, to be a better person, to do more for the people I know and would like to know.

I really like this quote by José Rizal cos it sums up something so simple yet easy to forget:

He who does not know how to look back at the place from which he came will never arrive at his destination.

Or in everyday speak:

No history, no self. Know history, know self.

This has been a root and guiding principle in my own life. It’s also been a sort of restorative when shit gets complicated or overwhelming. I like to think that racial justice isn’t a fight but a part of who I am. This piece is an effort to visualize the natural and restorative core of racial justice: a retreat into the elements, the mind, and one’s own trek through life.

But enough with the cheese! To show my appreciation for the zombies stoners good people who visit my bloggy, I am giving away a few prints. Yes yes… free stuff!! They are full-color digital prints (17 x 11″) via Autumn Express in San Francisco. Just email me at dnm.choi (at) gmail (dot) com and mention the blog, we’ll talk.

But you can wake up younger under the knife

haitian-girl-davidchoe

Haitian Girl by David Choe. A limited number of prints are for sale online, with all proceeds going to Yele Haiti, Wyclef Jean’s foundation.

I have a hard time writing in here about things that are truly important… or tragic and incomprehensible to me. I feel like unless my talk is backed up by substantive action, it trivializes the very cause it supposedly stands by. Hence the disproportionate amount of tongue-in-cheekery and not much of anything else.

So this is why I really appreciate writers who take the time to thoughtfully analyze difficult subjects and attempt to bridge that gap between theory and reality. Catherine Traywick of Hyphen has a great blog series called Idealize This!, which discusses practical issues encountered by people working for change. The latest is on photography and relief, specifically in Haiti — something that I’ve (less articulately) pondered.

She writes:

In the aftermath of the earthquake that decimated Port-au-Prince weeks ago, journalists have worked ’round the clock to keep the flickering screens and hungry eyes of their eager public perpetually engaged. And we, in turn, have consumed, without pause, photo essay upon photo essay of devastated Haitians climbing bloody out from under piles of debris, desperate Haitians knocking over little boys, and homeless Haitians sleeping without shelter, among many other startling images captured by news photographers with Pulitzer-sized dreams (after all, Haiti’s last disaster earned this guy one!).

And we are so moved by these terrible, suspended fragments of another’s life that it may not occur to us that the bloody woman we saw rising from beneath blocks of concrete probably saw a photographer’s lens before she saw the faces of her rescuers. Nor do we wonder whether she’ll get a dime if her photo wins him any awards.

But that’s nothing new. Photojournalism has always been an ethically shady enterprise. Whether Steve McCurry’s portrait of the reluctantly compliant “Afghan Girl” or Kevin Carter’s voyeuristic photo of a starving Sudanese baby, the trade has long borne a paradoxical reputation; while widely regarded as a public service, it nevertheless entails a level of detachment that is antithetical to most conventional conceptions of “service.” It’s a topic I’ve written about before, and one that I continually revisit, particularly as I get to know more photographers and especially as I strive to critique the ethical implications of my own journalistic projects.

She goes on to detail the work of orgs like PhotoPhilanthropy, which positions ethical photojournalism as a process rather than just an outcome.

And in the end, there’s no perfect formula for photographers or artists to both serve others and receive recognition for their work. It’s a personal, situational issue that requires, at the very least, a whole lot of self-reflection. Just finding out that the answer is that there is no answer is a struggle in itself.

As Eliza Gregory of PhotoPhilanthropy writes, “I think great art surprises us—it can come from anywhere, and be about anything. So I don’t think you have to be from a community to chronicle it with beauty and subtlety. But, it’s also very easy to become a hapless messiah, a benevolent imperialist, or simply someone who is not actually helping anyone. “

discussion — No Comments
28
Jan 10

Not your textbook history.

howard_zinn
Artwork by Robert Shetterly. From the painting:

The rule of law does not do away with the unequal distribution of wealth and power, but reinforces that inequality with the authority of law. It allocates wealth and poverty in such complicated and indirect ways as to leave the victim bewildered.

Howard_Zinn_1945 Howard Zinn passed on Wednesday. Well-known as the author of some little book called A People’s History of the United States, he’s an air force bombardier turned shipyard worker turned college kid turned prolific historian and activist.

He was born in 1922 and lived for 87 years. 87 YEARS. Somewhere along the way, a 16-year-old twat picked up A People’s History, was creeped by how tragic and complicated history actually was, and had to put it down. And so began the unraveling of everything I once believed to be true… and it continues today. Truth stings (but feels so damn good), ya know?

Check out Democracy Now!’s tribute with Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Naomi Klein and Anthony Arnove. Rest in peace Howard Zinn.

discussion — 1 Comment
21
Jan 10

Home grown for the kids.

Open Minds Open Mouths cover

OMOM-sample pages

So I’ve gotten lazy with my bloggy lately cos I’ve been clicking, cropping, and Indesign-ing my evenings and weekends away. Never mind my social life.

This is my baby of 3 weeks… it’s a booklet I designed for a film and webisode series called Open Minds Open Mouths. The project documents the impact of Berkeley Unified School District’s Food Policy, which ensures that all BUSD students have daily access to organic, locally grown breakfasts and lunches.

In typical Berkeley fashion, the policy’s got its share of fans and haters. Which mostly makes me wonder what the people being most affected by the policy– kids of color and their families– have to say about all of this. Anyway… as someone who doesn’t know much about food policy, I ought to get schooled a bit, check out the doc when it becomes available, before adding yet another 2 cents to the chorus…

artworks / discussion — No Comments
5
Jan 10

I’m from here and over there.

kim35-2

kim35-1

“35mm… along with the wonderful rainbow flowered default borders that come when developing film in Long Xuyen, Vietnam (you have to tell them you DON’T want the borders when first ordering, lesson learned). After a lot of pouting I still thought the pictures were worth posting.”

One of my goals this year as a blogger is to seek out and spotlight the artistry lurking under my very nose.

We’ll start out with the above-quoted individual, who happens to be a friend of mine and one of my blog favorites. She’s a radio DJ by the name of Ms. Button (aka Kim) and is currently posted in Vietnam, the place once called home by her family.

As a volunteer at ADAPT (An Giang/Dong Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking)– which is an organization that works to prevent human trafficking, specifically along the mekong delta– she teaches English to staff, works on grants, and visits scholarship recipients.

By far my favorite thing about Kim’s blog is the focus on and appreciation of everyday details. Like accidental wall art. Fashion digs. Drip coffee. Headfone music. Maybe this is a mindset that emerges when one is in a new place. Or maybe its just less snobby writing. Or maybe I pay attention cos I know her. Whatever the case, I think it’s rare to see artsy-fartsy bloggers (myself included) talk about this ish without assuming a detached, anthropological view. Plus its a blog about life in Vietnam from someone who is actually Vietnamese. ‘Nuff said.

These photos are a sampling of Kim’s exploits in Southeast Asia. I’ve blatantly stolen her captions. Check out her blog for more.

kim2
Off-white, brown strings criss-crossing to make a wicker basket pattern. Comfortable sole. Perfect way to fight the dust or dance floor.