what snapped on you!?
who am i? think again
/Hetain Patel
"Patel's surprising performance plays with identity, language and accent -- and challenges you to think deeper than surface appearances. A delightful meditation on self, with performer Yuyu Rau, and inspired by Bruce Lee." - TED
When addressing identity, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that certain aspects that make us who we are often seem like they contradict one another. Identity is complex and, more often than not, we tend to rely on established categorizations to tell us who we are, rather than taking the time to find out for ourselves and confront truths that we find uncomfortable.
Seeing the result that exploring The Self can have is what makes watching Patel's performance so much fun. There is great art, value and opportunity to be found within the time we spend reflecting and asking strange questions and Patel's performance is a testament to that.
Living with vitiligo
/jesi taylor - allure
Forget the article attached, just watch the video!
Jesi Taylor gives an honest and thought provoking talk on her struggle for self acceptance with vitiligo. When she recounts her experience being bullied, she talks about her blackness being called into question by her classmates for her interests and how some of them thought her vitiligo only further negated it.
The talk is a frank discussion on living outside conventional beauty standards, the journey towards self-acceptance and the complexities of our racial identities.
The pink choice
/Maika Elan aka Nguyen Thanh Hai
This series of photos by Hanoi-based photographer Maika Elan (aka Nguyen Thanh Hai) captures portraits of queer couples in Vietnam - in a statement about the project, she emphasizes how she wanted to capture "real moments and real people," as opposed to the distorted or "deviant" images showcased on TV. She also wanted to take their portraits in interior spaces, with their families and their partners, rather than as tragic or isolated people. I have always been drawn to photography as a medium, though I've never taken photographs myself - there's something so intimate and raw about photography, especially in body-and-space-centered projects like these. I found myself staring at each image for minutes at a time, especially because I'm so unused to seeing portraits of queer Asians in any context. The title "pink choice" also brings up questions about the white Western "pink economy," which enfolds queerness into capitalist/hegemonic/"respectable" models - what's the alternative? What are the possibilities - not just the tragedies - of queerness in Asia? I also like that these photographs become another kind of alternative visibility to things like misguided mainstream media representation, which often backfires - rather, the space and stillness of the photographs allows us to sit with them, to see so much more nuance.
-Kristin Chang '21
Did you see something that REALLY snapped on you?
Shoot us an email with the subject line: "SNAP!"
darkphrases@gm.slc.edu
banana mag
/Kathleen tso & vicki ho
The term 'Banana' in a racial context crudely refers to Asian people who are "white on the inside". In other words, who have been raised in a Western context. Founders Kathleen Tso and Vicki Ho use the term playfully, solely featuring creative individuals who subvert our expectations of the Asian identity.
Their articles give readers a look into contemporary creative Asian culture in a globalized world. In their second issue, Christine Zhu's story "Jade Bangles & Cuban Linx" compares an elderly woman who immigrated from Taiwan and a Chinese man engulfed in hip hop culture who immigrated to NYC from the Dominican Republic and their relationship to their jewelry.
Publications like this stand as rich proof that the identities of PoC are multi-faceted, complex and fascinating. We have stories worth telling beyond those that intertwine with white/Western powers.
Daniel Kaluuya ON BLACKNESS
/gq
Snap on me a tad bit, Daniel!
In an interview with GQ, Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya addresses the topic of blackness as well as the frustrating devisions and mentalities that have come to surround the topic. In a response to a critique made by Samuel L. Jackson about his casting in Get Out and his ability to relate to the Black American Struggle, Kaluuya opens up an important conversation about how alienating being black outside of America can feel. Kaluuya offers readers the opportunity think about blackness outside of the America and how the experiences and trauma that come with being black exist everywhere that you go.