Mixed Message Box
Click for the AudioMy self portrait revolved around my identification as a student activist. I have a strong passion for educational issues, and through learning about educational issues I have gained a passion for equity issues, because in my opinion the shortfalls of society, including the lack of funding in post secondary education are due to oppression. My project is not about having a political agenda, it's about being human, because I believe all humans want to be treated the same way no matter their gender, race, religion, etc... and it has become a passion of mine to try my best to find ways to make this equality happen.
The inspiration from my project came from an article in the Eyeopener about the Ryerson Students' Union's ties with the Canadian Federation of Students and what were essentially conspiracy theories surrounding the federation. It was disheartened by the writer of the article who is a student herself, criticizing the work of other students. Further, it is disheartening to be depicted as someone who does not think for themselves, who is "controlled" by another organization - my thoughts and opinions are my own, I am lucky to be surrounded by people who support them. The box itself represents the divide between students, one side with clips from the Eyeopener article, the other with students and other members of the community marching in rallies, working together to voice their message. The idea of the different sides of the box is to have the viewer sort of pick their "side." As it was suggested in class if I could extend the project further, I would install a tilt switch inside and depending on which side the viewer was looking at they could hear different sides of the story.
The audio that is placed within the box is a song that I wrote and sang myself, with the track being made in GarageBand. The basic message of the song is uniting against oppression, and where I feel I fit into these issues. The song sort of follows a linear story, or message. The first verse is about my thoughts on people, how the oppressions the exist just continue to make things worse. The chorus is about uniting, and how I want to work together to put an end to oppression. The second verse is a commentary on a rape court case that I just recently heard about where the judge commented on the woman's clothing being a contributing factor to being raped, and that it was unclear to the man that the woman did not want to have sex with him. This deserved to be a verse in the song because it is a direct example of oppression and the old school mindset that is still part of today's society, and how even though we may think that we have reached equality between men and women there are still very clear divides, and I identify with this issue as a woman and an activist and have a passion for reshaping views such as this one and others. As a whole the song is about my beliefs and my passion for progressive action, working for a socially conscious society, because it's not just something I do as an extracurricular activity, it dominates my way of thinking and going about my life... including this project.
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