THE COMMONS
THE BEGINNINGS ISSUE
SSUE THE BEGINNINGS ISSUE
SSUE THE BEGINNINGS ISSUE
THE BEGINNINGS I
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THE BEGINNINGS I
THE BEGINNINGS ISSUE CONTENTS
EDITOR’S NOTE
03 All About the Money 05 Artist: Artfucker 09 Extra Ordinary Submissions 19 Featured Interviews Sophie Cheung Dawn Lee Designs Michelle Li Eleanor McIntyre Caitlyn Phu
From publishing once a month to publishing when I can, this issue is the first time in the past half a year that I have devoted to this magazine where I let myself breath. A time where I felt so much weighing down on me, my creativity was never allowed to be stopped and analyzed, but was run down because of the very thing that I thought would inspire me. Although this magazine has only been a few months old, it still already holds a very special place in my heart - a place where it was hard to let go of something that I was so devout to, and spent all of my freetime in. It made me realize how much this became a chore, rather than a hobby; making this magazine was supposed to encourage me to write and support small artists, but it instead led me to finding the next “big” cover that I could find, and how many reads or followers that it had. Losing a cover person in the process of making this issue due to moral differences, this was something that burnt me out and made me lose all of my energy that I had to persist for a cover and push for an issue that I wasn’t proud of. Here, an issue that took two and a half long months to put together, and is something that I proudly curated. This issue was the hardest to get through, but my love for writing and the artists I feature will never burn out - put simply, the beginnings of this magazine is the beginning of me finally swallowing my pride and allowing myself to create something that I can look at with satisfaction.
STAFF Editor in Chief: Sarah Harwell Art Editor: Krista Nguyen Art Co-editor: Mely Mendez Creative Writing Editor: Hannah Kozak Culture Editor: Destiny Hodges Music Editor: Gwen Gephart Politics Editor: Laura Nguyen Photography Editor: Ava Pucilowski Social Issues Editor: Salem Suleiman
WRITING TEAM Sydney Coleman Hannah Kozak Carolyn Tachoir Madison Stanley Lana Valdez
SARAH HARWELL
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY Carolyn Tachoir
Women are essential to the American workforce. Gone are the days of the patriarch single-handedly providing for his family, as it is now the women who are the sole or cobreadwinner for their family. However, the long known wage gap is still a major problem for women in the workplace. To break down the wage gap for anyone not completely familiar on the subject, it is the gap between how much a woman is paid compared to what a man is paid. Most commonly, this number is calculated by figuring a full-time, year-round female employee’s annual income and comparing that number to a man’s. Not only is the difference in pay for the same quality and quantity of work an issue for white female workers, it is an issue for other demographics, depending on age, race, and even education level. Regardless of the factors or formula used, there is no denying that the American wage gap is a real issue. A real issue that is not going to fix itself. Since the twentieth century, the wage gap has been closing. Due to World War II, women in the workforce increased from 24% to 37%. This led to unions becoming the main outlet for promoting federal action regarding gender discrimination. Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s women made their voices heard, urging Congress to pass legislation. Finally, in 1963, led by the 25 million working women and Esther Peterson, head of the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor, President Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This applied to ensure equality in every aspect of the workplace, including salary, benefits, and vacation. In the following decades, the wage gap’s decrease was a major one, shrinking from 59 cents for every dollar a man makes, to 80.5 cents for every dollar. Later legislation, consisting of the Educational Amendment of 1972, better known as Title IX, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded educational institutions, 03
protected pregnant women at work, and provided added security for both men and women in the workforce, respectively, stepped in the safeguard the full range of women’s rights beyond the simple paycheck. However, not to diminish the positive impact of legislation, the wage gap continues to be an annoyance and a problem. Remember the 80.5 cents for every dollar statistic? That is technically true, but, as one study found, only if the woman works all year, and leaves many women out of the picture, “But women are less likely to work full-time on a consistent basis throughout their careers, and take more time out of the labor force to raise children, care for family or spend more time on education”, Heidi Hartmann, the president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and an author of the study told CNBC Make it. The IWPR’s study attempted to gather data, based on a career-long view, rather than year to year, as the Census report does. When gathering evidence in that way, the study found that “Between 2001 and 2015, they rose, but not significantly: over that 15-year period, women made 49 percent of what men made.” Also, while the Family Medical Leave Act should provide protection against, women received more of a penalty for taking a leave of work. Men are penalized as well, but the IWPR study revealed that a woman’s punishment was harsher, as “women who took one year off from work, annual earnings were 39 percent lower than those of women who worked all year between 2001 and 2015.” In addition to all of this, the solid foundation provided by the Equal Pay Act has started to crumble overtime as loopholes were discovered where difference of pay was found to be allowed on the basis of seniority, merit, and quality of work, all highly vague as well as being open to debate and personal judgement. Employers have also discovered that by changing a job title, they can be fully justified in paying a woman less than her male counterpart.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) found that wage gap also fluxuates by region, as Louisiana has the largest gap with a gender pay ratio of 69%, while California’s is the smallest with a ratio of 89%. Different groups of women have different pay ratios to men. Also according to the AAUW, a white women’s percentage of a white man’s earnings was 77% as of 2017, but African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian women experienced percentages of 61%, 85%, 53%, and 58%, respectively. In a 2017 study between occupations of 50,000 men and 50,000 women, 107 out of 114 occupations had a wage gap that favored men, six occupations had relatively equal pay, while only one occupation had a gap favoring the female workers. The goal should be a salary favoring neither male nor female workers, but paying all workers equal for the same work being done. In order for the wage gap to finally close, real change is going to have to take place and more unsatisfied workers need to make their voices heard. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), found that women will not reach pay equality at this rate until 2059, while women of color will have to wait even longer with African-American women reaching equality in 2119, one hundred years from now, and Hispanic women will reach equal pay in 2224. There are a plethora of positives for fighting for equal pay. Not only for the future generations of female workers, but also for the modern financial consequences. According to federal data by the IWPR, “equal pay would cut poverty among
working women and their families by more than half and add $513 billion to the national economy.” Women are essential to the workforce, both for the support they provide to their families, as well as their necessity to the American economy. It is about damn time employers start treating them like it. To learn more, view or purchase Beyond the Commons’ latest zine on the wage gap, “Fair Pay, Fair Play” on BeyondTheCommonsMagazine.com
ART Art Fucker (@artfucker) is an anonymous trans and non-binary photographer and graphic designer who is known for provocative, and thoughtful art that is both intriguing and mystifying. Their art has consistent themes of the female body, social issues, and more. Q: Many of your pieces have political/social commentary. Why do you feel it’s important to include some of the topics you do in your art? A: I try to create pieces for the viewer to observe and translate their own thoughts. It’s hard when people disagree with what my work represents, but multiple perspectives are the only way we learn and grow. The discomfort my work can create sheds light on areas within us that need to be addressed, or maybe that need healing. I read a quote recently that said, “There is no shame in admitting you were previously speaking from less informed place.” I want my work to amplify your real emotions. Including political and social commentary helps me as an artist grow from my own experiences. It also helps me to connect with my audience on a more personal level. I try to illuminate certain issues to help start tough conversations within the viewer, maybe show how their current lens on political issues may not always be the ONLY perspective. Q: As a trans/non-binary artist, how does your gender identity influence your art? Do you feel a need to represent other people like you in the LGBTQ+ community? A: . My art is greatly influenced by my gender. As I’ve grown further into my trans/nonbinary identity, my creativity has been flowing. I rarely feel a mental block. My male and female energies are working together instead of against each other. It’s important as my platform grows to continue to push against gender constructs and highlight work around how people are identifying themselves. That visibility is important to me because I never had that growing up. I never saw art or knew of people being celebrated for their gender non-conformity. I want to contribute anything I can towards a more evolved and less fearful future. Q: Being trans and non-binary, the body is a material “thing” that does not connect with who your true identity - how does your art portray this? A: I use bodies as a canvas for my work. Bodies are such a natural part of our lives but we tend to forget, “we are not our bodies”. That was such an important revelation for me. Let’s unpack that. Everyone on this planet is a soul inside a body. Bodies are simply the vehicles we experience life in, how can it be your true identity. People are born into a body and they may not always feel it reflects themselves. I love using bodies to drive that concept. Bodies should not offend you. That is a consistent theme because of my own experience living as trans/non-binary person. I use Instagram as a platform, so finding clever ways to manipulate censorship guidelines is always a fun way fuck with people who try to police my work. I use macro shots of the body, maybe where the gender is more abstract— like a close up of a nipple. When conservatives realize they are reporting and banning images they can only assume are “female”, they get really worked up. I wonder if they are offended by their own bodies. I also wonder why people care so much about gender at all really. We are all just skin and bones, I cannot grasp why there is so much censorship around them. Now, I am not saying let’s all run around naked, but I do think in appropriate places the rules should be equal for everyone.
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FUCKER
Q: Who are some of your biggest influences? A: Andy Warhol. We have similar energy. I love how he shot the culture surrounding him and trans activists and queer models. He also created some of the most commercially genius works. Currently, I am working with cigarette packaging and popular brands—The idea came to me after seeing his exhibit at The Whitney. As much as I like to highlight political and social issues, at the end of the day, I always create what comes into my mind and what I am inspired by. I became quite obsessed with learning about Warhol and found many similarities. We both have a background in art and advertising. We are both superficial. We are both consistently fueled by a muse. We create our best work when we are deeply obsessed with someone or deeply heartbroken. And our feelings towards what we create has to be authentic — I am constantly searching for that —for that feeling. For something real that will inspire the works I love to create. Q: What’s the first thing you look for when coming up with a concept for a photo? A: I don’t look for them. When I do; they come out like shit. I get inspiration by my life. Ideas tend to appear in my mind. I dream often and when I wake up, I write them down. I have massive lists of words I email myself in the middle of the night— sometimes I have no recollection of what they mean, but I am inspired by them, nonetheless. I have a wild imagination. I could be walking down the street and a traffic light appears with 3 Eyes instead of red, yellow and green lights. It’s as simple as that. Now, they don’t always translate but fortunately, I don’t get stuck often. Q: You use playing cards in some of your works. Why playing cards rather than anything else? A: They are so well-designed. I could ramble on about them for hours. From an artist’s perspective, they are a perfect design. They are so common, they are recognizable with simple typography. You can place that K and heart symbol together and immediately you are thinking — “King of Hearts”. And same for really any suit or court card. The design is iconic. Perfect symmetry; yet somehow all slightly different. Each with their own personality, a mustache, a sword, a flower. The perfect tool for me to pair the recognizable with human emotion. Actually, I have very special tattoos of playing cards, specifically The Queen of Hearts and the Jack of Spades. Only in my case, I drew the Queen as the Suicide King, and instead of her typical flower in hand, she holds a sword to her head. Similarly, the Jack of Spades, holds a flower instead of his scepter. This was the first experience I had visually mixing gender roles. They inspired all of my conceptual playing card art thus far. Q: Why do you choose to stay anonymous on social media? A: I enjoy being able to present my art to the world through my own lens and mood. Since my identity and body has become a political debate in the news, it feels almost safer to keep my gender expression off limits to the public. I feel a little more at ease to keep the focus on what I create with a certain level of privacy. I also do not like focused attention on myself. Attending my art shows as a fly on the wall is one of my favorite things.
ARTFUCKER Q: When did you first get into design? Was it an interest since childhood or did it become a passion as you got older? A: I have always wanted to be an artist since I was a child. I have always been a creative and I cannot imagine doing anything else honestly. Q: Some of your works have anti-patriarchal messages with the Kings cards on women’s bodies. What sparked this concept? A: These are one of my favorite series. It was sparked by the categorizing of people through gender. The king on feminine bodies has become a staple of my work. I titled this series, Love Has No Gender. It’s a pretty simple but powerful concept. I love how subtle the king head becomes —you almost don’t realize the combination of the masculine and feminine and it just becomes a really beautiful and delicate balance. Q: Different manifestations of body parts are portrayed in your artwork. Being in our current socio-political climate, society works to include people of all body types and all flaws. Do you hope to point out these flaws and make them art, or just show your love for the human body? A: I would say the latter. My recent show Gods+Lovers focused on the censorship of our bodies. I focus more on societal flaws, than say “beauty standards”. There is a space for that, and I fully support the shift in advertising and products. I follow artists who use typical “flaws” in the body and create concepts to expand on what beauty is. Breaking down beauty standards and showing more diverse body types that reflect our reality is important work. With that being said, each artist has a focus and I cannot tackle every systematic issue. I focus on what inspires me from my own life and the double standards that exists between masculine and feminine presenting bodies. That has been a major source of discomfort in my life. I was never comfortable being a girl, but I did not want to be a boy either. Being two identities in one body, I’ve never related to the male-female binary. For years, being stuck in a vessel of femininity, people decided who I was based on my appearance. Society has manipulated our experiences because we are taught how to treat people based on their body, gender, weight, and their skin color. Now, I do not claim to be an expert on all of these issues, but I am very knowledgeable and passionate about gender equality. I hope showing different gender expressions and bodies will decrease the sexualization that’s been inherently tied to the female body. Bodies have been a canvas for my work since I began. It’s wild how offended people can become over seeing something so natural. Q: Finally, what do you hope to accomplish in your art? A: To open minds. To help people question what they’ve been taught.
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cont.
EXTRA ORDINARY SUBMISSIONS
To begin
If you begin to accept the facts Nothing is ever stationary So neither am I My hopes and dreams wonder far Attempting to escape from me I begin to long for places I’ve never been I begin to hope for a time and place That I can simply float away to But these are non-starters Because I can never seem to go far
The Bird of Night
When a bird sings in the dark it marks the turn of life It calls forth new beginnings The night bird’s call distorts all time Yet propels you forward So you may start a new The paradox is not lost on the night bird Whose job is solely to awaken you
DELANEY DAVIDSON Delaney Davidson is a poet and artist living in New York City. Her poetry has been featured in Beyond the Commons (issue 4) as well as the debut issue of Citrine Zine. Delaney pulls influences from many places, but finds herself currently intrigued by Victorian poetry. You can find her on Instagram @your_red_rose
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Untying You ERIN INGLEDEW
From my ribs, I am untying the wires you used to tether yourself to me. I untie them slowly, because the release is more painful than I imagined it to be. The more wires I untangle from each bone, the faster my heart rattles against my rib cage, urging me to stop the ache. For a moment, its defensive efforts hold my fingers hostage with a memory of a past version of us. Instinctively squeezing my eyes shut, a highlight reel dances along the backs of my eyelids of when time would drown in your ocean eyes, my hands would rest on the sides of your face, and I loved you in infinite amounts. The unraveled wires lying beside my feet, however, remind me of how persuasive you could be. When my breath would catch in my throat over a new realization of your rotten character, you would coax me with your gaze, spill sentences from in between your pink lips with the right amount of sincerity in your voice, and wrap your arms around my chest, slowly squeezing out the reaction you wanted from me. Now, with more determination, I resume untying a wire, delicately slipping both ends of its length in between each of my ribs. Soon, all the wires that once coated my rib cage, preventing my heart to pulse with clarity, lie tangled among each other in the dirt. With the weight of your wires no longer suffocating my desires, I nurture the indentations left on my bones from your power and hold with gratitude in my heart. I savor the rediscovery of the independent woman I have always been underneath all the layers of shame, manipulation, and deceit that were bound to my chest so carefully disguised as love.
Coming of Age A Memoir by Emma Piorier The crow, Plays with its prey. The primed bird, Compelled by her youthful enthusiasm, Seduces. The rabbit, Unlike it’s mysterious lover Cannot fly away.
Control It’s possible, That I cannot say goodbye, Because of the drama. In a literary sense, We are a love story, Comparable in plot To the complexities of Austin’s The pages of our companionship Beg to be continued. Our chapters are often tearful, Meant for the empathetic reader As if derived by Nabokov And I, A dedicated aficionado, Cannot put down a good book. 11
Faulty I am a mountain. No one questions my strength. Through the roots of the earth, I stretch, Diving confidently through the sandy layers To the depths of fiery stone. No one, Questions the strength of a mountain, Until, It is crumbling.
Healing Ode to the older man who told me he loved me Thank you for teaching me that I should never be a secret Grabbing my body from the small dark caves of shame and letting me take up all of the space in the room Now I know that I should be loud, scream from the handlebars of my old red bike Wear $1 lipgloss because I like to shine March in hightops on the hearts of men who have harmed me
Verbal Abuse Waves, your words hit me in waves Knocking me every which way from the left to the right. They hit differently some running right through me Others ricochet off the flat surface you created Some break through causing glass to end up on the floor I ask if I’m wrong I ask you if I’m wrong It’s clear someone is but I can’t blame you I point the finger to a mirror I see myself through your eyes but it’s clear your vision is impaired You see me with foggy eyes your eyes, mouth, and face are unexplainable anomalies when they’re angry I couldn’t blame you, so I blamed myself Until I realized I was wrong for believing I was wrong I hope one day you see you stood behind me I pointed my finger to the mirror At you...
Madeline j Rojas
JESSICA KATZEN
JESSICA KATZEN
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KYLIE PARK KYLIE PARK KYLIE PARK KYLIE PARK 15
AZZAH SALWAA
Hello, my name is Azzah Salwaa. I'm from Jakarta, Indonesia. Here are my photography submit for Beyond the Commons in the theme of "beginnings", so in this series I called it Les Filles De Fleurs or Flower Girls. From my perspective, girls, women with hijabs or with veils, are always blooming, like flowers. They give this sincere, graceful, beautiful feelings everytime we see them.
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Emotion is a theme in your work, especially with your upcoming film on mental health awareness, and hoping to induce emotion using imagery through your photography. What inspired this theme? Sophie Cheung is a photographer and filmmaker born in Canada, and raised and educated in Hong Kong and England, where she studied architecture, and is passionate about cinema and fashion. She is known for her dreamy and mysterious aesthetic. Who/what introduced you to photography? My father introduced me to photography. When I was 12, my father took me on a trip to Spain and he was taking photographs of the people, the architecture, the landscape. I was curious and so I asked him to lend me his spare camera and I took photos alongside him for the rest of the trip. After that trip, we travelled all around Europe, Australia, Russia, India… Each trip I continued to practice photography and improve on my skills. I received my own camera on my 18th birthday and since then I have been non-stop photographing the people/places around me.
Going to school to study architecture, what caused the shift for you to be interested in photography?
I was always interested in photography to begin with. Growing up in a Chinese household, we were encouraged to pursue a professional career, and so I picked architecture - a degree that would allow me to be creative. During my studies, we had to create photorealistic renderings of the buildings we had designed. I realised that I was much more interested in creating these visual works than the design of the buildings, that was when I decided to focus more on photography and visual arts. I am grateful for my studies in architecture as it definitely helped with photography. For example, perspective, composition and lighting.
Having multiple mediums of creativity, such as film, photography, and fashion, how do you find inspiration to be interested in all of them?
For some reason, I’m just very drawn to all sorts of creativity fields. Recently I’m finding inspiration from good movies, cinematographers, directors. Movies by the director Wong Kar Wai consists of beautiful lighting, costume and set design that inspires me every time I watch them. Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s costume design has been extremely influential to me. Roger Deakins’ composition and lighting are always influential. When I conduct my own photoshoots, I would always create a moodboard with the images that had inspired me and work from there.
In the beginning, I was just photographing everything that I saw, and then I started photographing selectively. Eventually, I began to ask myself, what are the purpose of my photographs? I did not want to just take photographs of something/someone purely for its aesthetics. I wanted something beyond that. So I began to take my inspiration from movies, or music, any medium that made me feel something. When incidents happened in my personal life, I would translate those feeling into photographs. So gradually, my photographs became a collective memory and diary between my own and the society and arts surrounding me.
You have a distinct, dreamy aura in your photography. What was your inspiration for your style? Definitely fairytales, Disney and fantastical movies. I was very drawn to this genre growing up, I’m always in awe of how far these artists’ imagination goes.
With photographers becoming popular through Instagram, what makes a photographer stand out?
Definitely their uniqueness. Every photographer has a different journey, a different path to finding themselves/ their style; which eventually shapes their work. I think photographers who utilise that to bring out their most distinctive work would stand out amongst others.
When photographing other people, what is your main focus or goal?
Everyone has a story to be told, and every photographer/ artist/filmmaker would have a different way of telling other people’s stories. I think that is the most fascinating part of capturing others. If I were photographing other people for my own personal work, my goal would be to bring their soul into my nostalgic imaginary world and tell their story through my approach.
Dawn Lee Design is a two-woman operation of Dawn Lee, graphic designer, and Sophiea K, business developer. The studio started from Dawn, who began her graphic design journey by making animations and graphics for YouTuber Jenn Im, and quickly became popular, turning her hobby into a career. BTC: When did you realize you were interested in graphic design? DLD: I always had an interest in being some kind of an artist, because I grew up always drawing and maintaining some form of art. I really realized that graphic design was my path during some time in my freshman year or sophomore year of college after I started taking some mandatory digital art classes. It reignited the passion that I used to have, because when I was in elementary school, I would make random .gifs on my Tumblr and MySpace, and I remember really loving Disney shows like That’s So Raven, or Lizzie Macguire, and I would take the funny moments that I would watch and post it on my blogs, and then I would get a little high off of the people reblogging it - it’s funny that that passion came full circle, and that during college, I remembered how much I enjoyed making things on Photoshop or Illustrator.
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BTC: Was it something you studied in school? DLD: In college, yes! BTC: Why did you decide to create a YouTube channel? DLD: There’s always something about sharing your work - it was something that I started doing as a whole studio as a whole, and it started out with Instagram livestreams, and it began with working with a very misogynistic and corporate man, and we used the livestream to just vent, which led us to do our livestreams. During these livestreams, it would be difficult for people from different regions to participate because of the different time zones, and they would ask how they could rewatch it - making a YouTube channel would allow for a more permanent platform to constantly put out our own content. This would also become another platform for us to express a different kind of passion that we have, which both Sophie and I love to be involved with, like pop culture. We wanted a platform where we could start dissecting things like that. BTC: Do you plan to include design tutorials? DLD: I think we will eventually because that’s another request we keep getting, things like tips for designers, or demos. BTC: I’ve heard you describe Dawn Lee Design as something that is very new-age, why do you think that there is a demand for media and this new type of design? DLD: As you know, graphic design is itself a relatively young or new field, and with technology developing, and new careers arising, like YouTubers. As these new kinds of jobs and platforms are beginning to arise, there’s these all other jobs that are coming up as well, because we all need to support these new popular, in-demand platforms. Being a graphic designer, I did not grow up watching graphic designers on the internet or on television, and now it’s a time when anyone can have their own recognition and their own platform, and feel as if it’s “the right time” for creatives. BTC: Is there any project that you’re the most proud of or love the most? DLD: Working with Jenn Im, is always a big inspiration for me, and I always have a really good time just diving in and having a really good synergy with Jenn, and I think that in terms of doing a full-scale branding - like logo design, packaging, and photos, and actually using some of the photos that we took as their campaign photos is really exciting. One brand that we loved working with was Insert Name Here, which is a wig and extensions brand. Not only did we get to do the logo and come up with the packaging ideas, we offered to do some in-house
photography for them, because Sophie and I like to just do it all, and they ended up liking the portfolio photos that we took, and posted it on their socials. I can’t pick one work, because every single one is different. BTC: Do you think social media plays a big role in people being a successful graphic designer? DLD: Coming from my personal experience, it has helped me. In my case, putting ourselves out in the social space helped accelerate our growth and it helped us really get our name out there, get more clients, and build up a following. I don’t think that wouldn’t have happened had I not shared my work and kept a “secret” portfolio. My client base is all through word of mouth or referrals, which leads to a mutual faith in trust, allowing me to be as creative as possible, which is success enough in my opinion. BTC: Did you do freelance so that you could have your own creative input? DLD: Yes! But going back three years when I first started working with Jenn, I didn’t have this whole career in mind, and didn’t think it would become as successful as it did. BTC: When you were a freelancer before turning into a studio, was there
a specific time when you realized that you needed to make it a partnership? DLD: This is over a year and a half into doing full time freelancing on my own, and I felt like there was a struggle in working with very hands-on clients and having more and more come in. It was hard for me to balance both the business side and the design side, and being able to accomodate to so many emails coming in as well as being creative to my fullest potential. At the time, I thought I just needed an assistant, and I would vent to Sophie about how I wasn’t able to work at the speed and quality that I would prefer, and felt really stressed out - it finally hit us that we should work together. BTC: Being able to be fully creative, how do you think your work reflects you? DLD: If you look at my wardrobe, I have a very colorful assortment of clothes - I definitely love my neutrals, but I love color and making very eye-catching art, like pop art. Color is reflected in not only what I wear, but in my art. Definitely a lot of texture as well, which I just love - I love taking pictures of different textures on the streets, or on paper. I love neon signs, which you can see a lot in my work. I definitely feel like my personality is shown as well; I’m very lighthearted and I like art for the sake of bringing pleasure to others, and I think that is very reflective of my work. BTC: You mentioned that you like pop art - is there any influences of this in your art, like Roy Lichtenstein? DLD: I love Roy Lichtenstein! I was a big fan of Jeff Koons when I was in high school, and there’s another surrealist artist called Vladimir Kush that I’m obsessed with, and I definitely feel like with their work, I feel like my work is similar to theirs, in a graphic design form. BTC: Is there any upcoming projects or clients that you’re excited about? DLD: Some recent ones are a boba company that I’m really excited about, especially because I’ve only done food branding for one other company, so it’s something I’m really looking forward to. BTC: Thank you, Dawn and Sophia!
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Michelle Li (@himichelleli) is an associate fashion market editor and stylist at Refinery29, where she is known for her bright color and pattern mixing, unique silhouettes, and iconic pink bob
stay in the past. There are some pieces of clothing that I just hang on to because of all of the memories it holds.
What sparked your love for fashion? What influences your style? My love for fashion stemmed from constantly trying to find ways to express myself. I tried painting, piano, and ballet but fashion just always stuck with me. A good outfit can make you feel incredible even when you’re not feeling 100%. There’s definitely something magical about that. My style is influenced by people like Leandra Medine and Susie Bubble, they’re people that remind you to be smart and have fun with fashion.
Living in New York, do you feel more comfortable to wear bright colors and structures? How has growing up in Indiana affected your style growing up? Growing up in Indiana I always wanted to feel different and unique and clothing was one of my favorite ways to try and express that. Being in New York I feel more comfortable experimenting more. It’s still about wearing the right things at the right moment, but I find myself considering trends that I might not have otherwise considered when I was in Indiana.
Fashion is art, movement, design, and architecture all in one what does fashion mean to you? Fashion is a process and that’s what I love so much about it. What you wear is so completely dependent on your moods and what you’re feeling at that moment in time. Going through old clothing is one of my favorite past times, I love trying to reimagine it to who I am now and also letting some things just
Attending Parsons, how has your experience helped to get you where you are today? I interned a lot while at Parsons and that was one of the main benefits of going to college in the city. You have the opportunity to intern while going to classes so I found out what I wanted to do super quick. At Parsons I was also surrounded by so many creative people, I would have loved more collaboration among
classmates but still found it inspiring to be exposed to so many different design aesthetics. It helped me identify things that I liked and didn’t like and forced me to be able to articulate why some pieces didn’t resonate with me as much as others. Being an editor at Refinery29, how is the writing world different than styling and organizing photoshoots? It’s so different! And I think it really helps to have both perspectives. I love being able to do both because you get to see a project come together from beginning to end. Styling and organizing photoshoots is a lot of physical labor and logistics, it’s hard work and I think a lot of people don’t realize that going in. Writing takes a lot of mental energy, you have time (usually) to think about a story and what you want to say. Whereas sometimes styling takes more on-the-spot creativity. You have to know how to be proactive. With social media on the rise, and apps like Grailed and TheRealReal exposing the youth to high fashion, how do you think authenticity has been stripped or promoted? How has this been different from when you were discovering fashion? I’m not sure if I believe that it’s been completely stripped or
promoted, I think it’s nice that high fashion is becoming more accessible to the youth. But with social media I could see how it can be toxic and lead to more materialism and less creativity. When I was first discovering fashion, I had to make do with what I had and never even considered being able to work with high fashion clothing. In some ways, it forced me to be creative. But in others, it took me awhile to fully appreciate high fashion. What and how did you finally find your personal style? How has working at Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine, and The New York Times affected the way you were exposed to fashion? Working at a bunch of different magazines with such unique point of views helped me find what environments and styles I work best in. I loved being able to understand how they work and what their readers like. I finally found my personal style while at Refinery29, while here I felt like I got to refine it and gained the confidence to try new things and step out of my comfort zone.
Eleanor McIntyre is a New York based music photographer and recent graduate of the New School, who enjoys attending indie and punk shows, and photographing her favorite artists. Her style can be easily distinguished in her bright colored lighting, and personable shots of artists, despite a rowdy mosh pit.
Being a graduate from the New School, what concepts did you learn that helped you discover your love for music photography? Surprisingly, I think studying painting helped me discover my love for music photography. I started studying painting at a young age and just continued into college and everything that I learned in painting like composition, light, and color theory, could be translated into the form of photography as well. With so many different forms of photography, and different subjects, what made you focus on musicians during shows? I think I’m the most interested in musicians because I’ve grown up around music but I’m the only one in my family who has no musical ability, and I’ve always been more visual so I think that was a way for me to take what I love and what I know and fuse them together. I also love documenting these huge moments for musicians that they want to keep and remember for as long as possible. How did you discover your aesthetic in photos? I’ve never wanted my aesthetic to be something that’s forced, I just choose my favorite shots that I think highlight someone’s best qualities in the perfect moment and edit them until they are
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enhanced in whatever way I can but sticking to what feels natural. Most of the time they end up being pretty cohesive to one another it sorta becomes my own style. Who was your favorite person to photograph? Why? Jade Bird, I shot her because a friend of mine was and still is her tour photographer, and I ended up covering a show that he couldn’t make. It was an absolute adrenaline rush and one of my first big shows, at least to me. It meant a lot that she felt comfortable with me there because she’s an amazing talent and she’s actually become a friend. Who would be your dream musician to photograph? Hayley Williams, hands down. I’ve grown up listening to her and throughout all she’s been through, I still feel like we, as her fans, are able to get a sense of who she is, not like we know her, but more like both her spirit and strength have just grown after all this time and haven’t diminished in any way. For how big she is, she’s very authentic and isn’t easily swayed by the big bad music industry. Did you discover photography before you did photography at concerts? Yes, I actually would do portraits as much as I could with friends in high school, even when I didn’t have a camera I would borrow other people’s, up to the point where they were sick of it. It’s always been about people. I’ve never wanted to take pictures of much else. What’s your favorite part of photographing artists? I don’t even know if there’s just one. I do love showing the photos to the people who they’re of, and seeing their reactions because it’s like the moment is over but I have a piece of it for them to hold onto, but sometimes I honestly just love to do it for myself. Even if the musicians never see the photos for whatever reason, if I think it’s a great shot it’s like a reassurance that I’m doing something right. What do you hope to accomplish to the viewer in your photography? I just hope that I can have at least one person take a minute and say “whew, how did they get that!” I love talking to people about what I love so if they wanna keep talking, I’m satisfied.
Caitlyn Phu is a young filmmaker, who is currently a senior at Huntington Beach High School, in which during her last year, she won Orange County’s Artist of the Year for film and animation. She plans on attending California State University, Long Beach, and later attending Chapman University for film. What started your love for film? Before I even learned how to write, I knew I wanted to tell stories. When I was younger, I started with drawing imaginary scenarios I created in my head. Up until maybe the age of nine, I was convinced I wanted to be an artist. But, after I changed schools after third grade, my teachers noticed that I had a real skill for narrative writing and encouraged me to start writing more short stories both during school and on my free time-- this would be the catalyst for my passion for screenwriting. I switched and played around with different creative platforms for years, and I believe that at one point I owned multiple separate Instagrams specifically to display my work: one for photography, one for drawings, one for poetry, and more. But, I think we’ve all been through that phase. The summer before sixth grade, my good friend Bishop and I had our eyes set on a short story I had written that year. Inspired by the Bond films and Mission Impossible, we mutually came up with the idea to adapt it into a screenplay. The script was about a disgruntled secret agent struggling from the loss of his family--yes, a dark topic for someone who wasn’t old enough to see a PG-13 movie alone--so it would obviously be a bit difficult for two preteens to 27
What gravitated you towards screenwriting instead of production and direction in film?
create this sort of film. The film, entitled Gone, was never made. But, throughout the entire writing process, Bishop and I could picture each frame so clearly. We wrote a little less than 20 pages before we moved onto a new project, but, in my head, it still feels like the film had existed. I pictured the film so vividly as I wrote each piece of dialogue, each line of action, and each character description that it almost felt like I’ve watched the nonexistent finished project. That was the moment I realized that film had the ability to turn those imaginary scenarios in my head into something visual, and writing screenplays taught me to take the skeleton of my short stories and develop them into concrete actions that can be played on a screen. I just loved the way that film allowed me to say something about life as a whole through the visualization of human behavior and interactions.
In my high school’s film production program, I have gotten the chance to explore a variety of fields within the filmmaking industry, but I think my long-time love for writing and storytelling basically cemented my destiny in screenwriting. The story, characters, and themes of a film always begin in the screenplay-the screenplay is essentially where everything starts in terms of the production of a film. As a screenwriter, I have the jurisdiction in deciding what kind of message I want to speak to an audience and how I want to tell it, and I have always been very particular in the way I want to tell stories. For example, I am currently working on a screenplay about a girl who has a day left to live. It sounds incredibly morbid, but it’s not really about death. I have been wanting to write a screenplay that explores the fear of growing up and how many teens feel the need to take advantage of our youth while we can, and that’s what the film is really about. This is what I love about screenwriting! I have the ability to translate my personal experiences into action and dialogue through the articulation of words, and writing about my own emotions into a structured story
usually helps me understand my jumbled emotions better, too (basically selfconducted therapy). Lastly, screenwriting is practically an art form in my eyes. In the best screenplays, you can tell so much about a character from one line of dialogue. It’s the screenwriter’s mission to convey a message through the subtleties of human behavior and action, and that’s art. In your short film, “Durian”, what inspired you to make a film on the microaggressions that Asian-Americans experience? In reality, it took me about five months to write the Durian screenplay, but it feels
as though I have spent my whole life writing it. Many of the Asian-American teens who have watched my short film felt a deep connection to the situations that the protagonist Clara Chu fell into and the microaggressions she faced, and that’s because they are all very common and real. I am extremely lucky in the sense that I grew up in a community where I was never really discriminated against, but there always seemed to be some separation that existed between me and those around me. In “Durian”, Clara begins feeling uncomfortable eating the south-east Asian fruit Durian due to the cultural pressure she feels outside of her home, and that’s something that I had
experienced in my own life. It’s something I have been meaning to create a film about for a long time, as not many people realize the isolation that many AsianAmericans experience from some of the subtle behavioral and verbal actions of others, like when a friend will comment on the oddity of Asian dishes or when someone observes how “white-washed” you are. Generally, these small remarks are never meant to be racist or offensive, but it only perpetuates stereotypes or thoughtlessly labels a person and their culture as “different”, and I wanted to share the perspective of those who feel isolated by interactions that many see as normal.
which was my cultural identity. I have always had my heart set on creating a piece of work that made commentary on the experience of Asians in America as a whole, but Durian’s origins began as more of a journal entry rather than social commentary. Of course, as the story began to grow and unfold, I realized that my personal experiences with identity and the interactions I had with both friends and family all made statements about culture and race, so I decided to continue developing the screenplay with this potential in mind. I think writing this piece helped me understand that there were many things that I really wanted to say about society and about the way we treat differences-- a film that touched on
When making your short film for Artist of the Year, did you intend to make a statement on race relations, or just share your experience as an Asian-American woman?
such a shared experience of many AsianAmerican teenagers was always meant to make a bigger statement. Durian is still very much about my own life, but I used my life experiences as a means to make commentary on the greater challenge that many first-generation teenagers face.
I think it was a little bit of both. Inevitably, when making a film about my experience as an Asian-American teenager on the battlefront of clashing cultures, I am going to explore the interactions and differences that exist between Asian and American cultures. When I first began writing the screenplay for Durian, it started out as a just a way for me to try to better understand an aspect of my life that I still hadn’t figured out yet,
Making that film, you challenged yourself to write and direct it. What was the biggest struggle and the largest lesson you learned when making the film? When I first received the email that I was to submit a semi-finalist film for the Orange County Artist of the Year competition, I was left with about two
weeks to create a new film that showed who I was as both a filmmaker and a person. As I am primarily a screenwriter, practically all of my finished screenplays have remained as documents on my laptop and were never filmed, so this competition challenged me to direct, film, and edit a 10-minute short film, and to do it all in two weeks. That was definitely the two most stressful weeks I have had in awhile-- the first week consisted of intensive pre-production, scheduling, and casting, while the second week was reserved for a very rushed film shoot and then editing. Luckily, the Durian screenplay was nearly finished by that point, but this project really tested my limits in terms of balancing time, quality, and budget. Two weeks, on its own, it barely enough time to write, film, and edit a short film, but, since this story was so personal and important to me, I was also tasked to create a quality film I was proud of in that period of time. I am so incredibly happy with the finished project, especially with the amount of time I had to do it all, and I credit it all to my amazing cast and crew and an insane amount of pre-production. I have never had to schedule, plan, and coordinate to this extent on any other project I have worked on, but planning down to the minute was the primary reason we were able to get Durian done by the deadline. There is no doubt that the greatest lesson learned from the production of Durian was the importance of planning, planning, and planning. Never underestimate the power of a strong schedule and a detailed line script! As someone who wants to pursue film in the future, is the representation of Asian-Americans in film relieving, or hopeful? Oh man, I have written a number of pieces on Asian-American representation in film, and I am happy to be able to say that a new chapter seems to be beginning. Even though AsianAmerican representation both in front of and behind the camera is still nowhere where it needs to be, I have seen more diversity on television and theatre screens than I have in past years, and this can be very telling of what is to come in the film industry. In 2018, Crazy Rich Asians hit theatres and was the first Hollywood
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film with a primarily Asian cast since the 1993 film Joy Luck Club, with Crazy Rich Asians later securing the title as the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the past ten years! Many other films around that time began following a similar trend of growing diversity, such as the thriller Searching (starring Asian-American actor John Cho), To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (starring Vietnamese actress Lana Condor), and The Edge of Seventeen (where Chinese actor Hayden Szeto played the protagonist’s love interest). Behind the camera, too, changes were stirring up. The film The Farewell recently premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is set for distribution by A24. Based off of the true story of a Chinese family that must hide from their beloved grandmother that she is dying, the film was directed by Chinese writer and filmmaker Lulu Wang. I can’t remember the last time a young Asian-American female directed a film that was set for wide release by such a large production company. The opportunities for Asian-Americans in the film and television industry are much smaller than it is for many others, so being able to watch people like me do the jobs that I dream of doing makes me incredibly emotional and hopeful. I have always doubted my ability to find success in my chosen career due to my race and background, but seeing this increasing representation in the industry has given me hope for what’s to come, but I just know I’m going to have to continue working hard to get there.
What do you hope to accomplish in your films? I have always believed that the ability to make humans empathize was at the core of every great film, and that’s what I set out to do with my own work. Empathy allows an audience to cry when a character loses a loved one or laugh when watching an awkward encounter between friends, but, most importantly, it allows an audience to learn a lesson from taking a walk in someone else’s shoes. The message I want to send or the lesson I want to teach will vary with each film I create, but I know that, no matter what I wish to convey, I want to do it through creating a genuine connection between the protagonist and the audience. As I improve as a filmmaker and writer, I hope to create films that explore real challenges we face and genuine stories that we can relate to while still taking advantage of the creative freedom that this platform allows for, if that makes sense. I don’t believe that teaching authentic lessons should be restricted by an entirely realistic plot, and I aim to continue developing my use of this creative jurisdiction in future projects-- continuously innovating, exploring, and discovering. But, what I have always hoped to do since the day I wrote my first screenplay, was to create something that makes my audience feel something genuine. What are some upcoming projects or events coming up that you’re excited about?
I am currently working on a screenplay that explores themes of youth and the fear of growing old, told through the perspective of someone on the verge of death (it sounds incredibly morbid, but I promise it’s not! It’s more of an awkward and endearing journey than a depressing one). The screenplay is set to be finished around early summer, so I am currently planning starting pre-production for the short film in June. I am also beginning pre-production on an upcoming music video I will be directing, which is something I always look forward to doing. Oh, and I am also graduating high school! After high school, I will be attending Chapman University Dodge College in Spring 2020, where I will be majoring in Television Writing and Production! I am in the midst of major college planning and stressing right now, but I am unbelievably excited and grateful to continue studying screenwriting at one of the nation’s top film colleges. Intermediately, I will be taking screenwriting classes at the Los Angeles UCB, where many of my writing idols have studied. This next year will bring a lot of changes, but, while I am slightly terrified, I am feeling more excitement than anything, especially in terms of growing as both a filmmaker and an individual.
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THE BEGINNINGS ISSUE