PROJECT 3: Wrestling with the Past, Dealing with the Future

PROJECT 3:  WRESTLING WITH THE PAST, DEALING WITH THE FUTURE
IN-CLASS: M 4/9, 4/16, M 4/23, 4/30, 5/7
CRIT/DUE: W 5/9

Post-colonialism (also known as post-colonial theory) refers to a set of theories in philosophy, film and literature that grapple with the legacy of colonial rule. As a literary theory or critical approach it deals with literature produced in countries that were once, or are now, colonies of other countries. It may also deal with literature written in or by citizens of colonizing countries that takes colonies or their peoples as its subject matter. Postcolonial theory became part of the critical toolbox in the 1970s, and many practitioners take Edward Said's book Orientalism to be the theory's founding work. Post-colonialism deals with many issues for societies that have undergone colonialism: the dilemmas of developing a national identity in the wake of colonial rule; the ways in which writers from colonized countries attempt to articulate and even celebrate their cultural identities and reclaim them from the colonizers; the ways knowledge of colonized people have served the interests of colonizers, and how knowledge of subordinate people is produced and used; and the ways in which the literature of the colonial powers is used to justify colonialism through the perpetuation of images of the colonized as inferior.

Colonized peoples responded to the colonial legacy by writing back to the center. This came about as indigenous peoples began to write their own histories, their own legacy, using the colonizers' language (usually English) for their own purposes. As post-colonialist theory has impacted communities of indigenous peoples it has produced a process of indigenous decolonization.As suggested by its name, postcolonialism is about dealing with the legacy of colonialism. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the most prominent form this has taken to date has been in the cultural realm, especially with respect to identity politics and literary studies. Thus, the most common way the term has been used is in reference to a genre of writing and cultural politics, usually by the authors from the countries which were previously colonised. All postcolonialist theorists admit that colonialism continues to affect the former colonies after political independence.

This final project should demonstrate the culmination of what you have learned this semester in Worlds In Collision. In Project 3, I would like you to explicitly consider Filipino/Filipino-American history, as well as post-colonialism, transnationalism, and the creative strategies and philosophies of the artists in Overmapped, the artists you did your midterm papers on, as well as artists Ariel Erestingcol, Rosanna Brillantes, Eliza Barrios, Mike Arcega, and Lordy Rodriguez. How can creative production, your creative production, be a way of responding to history, “answering back”, answering/asking more questions, dealing with both the personal and political, and filling in the gaps?

We’ll discuss this project a bit in class, but you are expected to do research, and learn more about the terms and artists. Don’t feel any pressure to answer explicitly or didactically to all of the above considerations, but do be prepared to indicate how those ideas or influences have affected your thinking and art-making as an artist yourself.

Go back through the texts you’ve read for Wednesday’s section, review work by the artists online. It helps.

On Monday April 16, please be ready to work. Do not come empty-handed, or empty-idea’d. Email me prior to the 16th if you are struggling. Bring all the supplies you will need to work with to class for each remaining session. Consider the wide range of materials and media you’ve now seen: maybe you’ll work with traditional materials, maybe with unconventional found materials, with digital media, or any number of other things. Please choose materials/media that you know to be significant or relevant to your project. Consider some of the dialogue we had about work and materials during critiques for Projects 1 and 2.

This project has a total of 13 in-class hours, and an expectation of at least 7-8 outside-class hours. You are welcome to work more than this, of course.

Criteria for success on Project 3:
∑ Personal investment in theme and message
∑ Emotional/intellectual engagement with the subject/image
∑ Materials/media/execution appropriate to your project
∑ 4-5 weeks of effort and investment (20-21 hours minimum)
∑ complex investment in idea, theme and execution
∑ written reflection/artist statement

Clarification of some criteria:

Engagement and Investment:
Care and criticality are words to keep in mind, as a maker and a viewer. How do you care about this, and then how might you make us care, as well? What is the evidence of your critical/conceptual intent? Have you chosen an image/istory/theme that compels you? Have you genuinely engaged with the image? How is this evident in your completed work?

Materials/execution:
It doesn’t matter what style or materials you work with. What you choose to work with should reflect an advanced level of criticality and investment, however.To reiterate from previous projects, this is not about traditional technical skill. It is definitely about investigation, experimentation, and follow-through. Is the work complete, and as well-made as possible? Does it feel finished, and resolved? Have you challenged yourself to move beyond your personal comfort zone/skill-set, and take new risks?

Written Reflection:
Since this project is a bit more ambitious, it would be good to expand your writing a bit more. Your work may have heavy, or unfamiliar content, which a well-written reflection can accommodate. This writing still doesn’t have to be straightforward academic analysis. It can be poetry, short fiction, diaristic: whatever seems appropriate. It should supplement, but not supercede, your artwork. 2 pages, typed and double-spaced, preferably.