THE SIREN
The Arts Issue
The Feminist Magazine of The University of Oregon
“I paint flo they will n
Frid
owers so not die.�
da Kahlo
From the editor I’m going to be cheesy and ask, is this really my last issue as editor-in-chief? Well, all good things do come to an end (sorry, last one), but I wanted to leave a visual representation of all the great things that feminism has to offer in relation to art. Art can help many people heal from difficult situations. For example, it can guide a survivor through trauma. It can also help distract us from the oppressive administration we live under causing us to lose faith in humanity. I know I have. But shows and movies (even memes) have helped us through these last couple of months, and will guide us through the rest of these four years. I hope this issue can inspire people to fight and challenge the same institution that has put us down. The next person taking over my role believes in the same mission. She is someone I greatly admire and who will never stop to provide you with content from an intersectional feminist lens. But for now, I want to thank all of the contributors, my editorial team and the Women’s Center for the opportunity to lead this magazine. I will forever value intersectional feminism in everything I do. Gabby Urenda
Editor-in-Chief Gabby Urenda Art Director Emily D. Haugbro ASUO Women’s Center Oregon Web Press CORRECTION: In our last Ecofeminist Issue, we accidentally attributed Lissa Brown instead of Natalie Pearson for Brown’s interview. Natalie spent a substantial time collaborating with Brown, and should be recognized for her labor.
contributors
Olivia Decklar Ashley Lindstedt Isabel Courtelis Marissa Baklayan (cover) Gabby Urenda Hannah Taub Hannah Brumbuagh-Cunningham Kirbey Geissler Bianca Sandoval Natalie Pearson Kailey Dunlap Jaycie Schenone Mia Vicino Itzel Gomez Marian Fragoso Brooke Harman Emily Carpenter Julia Sherman Thomas Sprott
Table of contents
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Andrea Gibson Interview
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Ashley Lindstedt
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Playlist
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Marissa Baklayan
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Femme-Directed Coming of Age Films
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Combining the Arts and Journalism
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By Peaches
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Feminist Graphic Novels
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“Cycle of Feminism”
“Sisters in Arms”
Love
Violet Paley Interview
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Being Blind and Making Visual Art
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History
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Interview with Andrea Gibson
Andrea Gibson is an award winning spoken word poet who performed at the Out/Loud Queer and Trans Womxn’s Performance Fest put on by the ASUO’s Women’s Center
Olivia Decklar How does poetry and art help you cope? “I have always found so much healing in expression, in telling my story, in being witness to other people’s stories. There is a disease of silence and untruth in our world right now. There is so much destruction. And one remedy for that is honest creation. It’s the one clear time in my life: when I’m making art or taking in art. It is the time I feel most connected to the world around me, and to the world inside of me.” Why might other people who identify as Queer and/ or Trans might want to look into using poetry and art as a coping mechanism? “I heard many years ago that loneliness resonates in the same part of the brain as physical pain, so anything that combats the myth of loneliness I believe is of service. Most often, that’s
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what I’m trying to do with my writing and it’s important to me to be connecting specifically with other queer folks, to help build community that shows up to each other. The container of art often allows for things to be said that might not be said otherwise. Art, in some ways, is its own safe space. I say things in poems I am still too scared to say in conversation. And my hope is that that truth lends some comfort.” What inspires you and why? “I’m inspired by curiosity and wonder and [also] people who are really willing to say, ‘I don’t know, but I want to find out.’ The only doctor I ever had that I trusted was the one who consistently said, ‘I don’t know.’ We are a culture of knowers. We are a culture of certainty about things we maybe should not be so certain about.
I love people whose minds change constantly and quickly--people who are always learning and exploring. People who are not just willing to be wrong, but who are excited when they are, because it means they now know something they did not know a moment ago.” As it is Mental Health Awareness Month, what do you do for self-care? “So many things! I watch basketball. I snuggle my dog. I take baths. I hike. I get into the sun and breathe deep. I listen to positive affirmations from various almost hilarious [YouTube] channels while my housemates laugh in the background as I repeat over and over ‘I love myself! I love myself!’ I write until I uncover something beautiful in something difficult. I list the things I am grateful for. I call my friends and ask for pep talks. I call my friends and give them pep talks. I sing out loud at the top of my lungs. I cry out loud at the top of my lungs. I watch Tig Notaro
comedy videos. I pray to whatever queer and freaky gods are out there.” What is your go-to poem in your time of need? “Right now it is “Today” by Danez Smith.” What does it mean to be a Queer artist to you? “For me it is about speaking to the horrors and injustices that are ever-present for queer people, while at the same time creating art that comforts and inspires and celebrates. As much as we need the truth of the pain to be told, we also need the truth of the beauty to be spoken. As a queer person I am both full of grief and full of awe for the lives we create in spite.” How can our society better support and provide for the LGBTQIA+ community? “Acknowledging that the current paradigm is one of war and committing to shifting to path of peace, which I know sounds impossible, but I have to believe it’s possible.”
Ashley Lindstedt
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Playlist Isabel Courtelis
Pablo Picasso Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers Andy Warhol David Bowie Modern Art Black Lips Slideshow at Free University Le Tigre Guggenheim The Ting Tings Art Angels Grimes Artpop Lady Gaga All That We Perceive Theivery Corporation Colours Avalanches Mood Indigo Nina Simone
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Disco Slum Village Jazzmatazz Jay Electronica Wordplay Bahamadia Graffiti Digable Planets Open Mic Nite, Pt. 1 Viktor Vaughn Anti-American Graffiti J Dilla Toussaint Hypnotic Brass Ensemble A Bigger Picture Called Free Common CMYK BADBADNOTGOOD Picasso Baby Jay-Z
Playlist
Built by Pictures Oddisee
Marissa Baklayan
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Femme-Directed Coming of Age Films Mia Vicino
Here are six films from around the world that accurately capture the universally wonderful, terrifying, frustrating journey of puberty -- all directed by women who have suffered through it.
The Fits (USA, 2015) - Anna Rose Holmer When the older girls in her dance troupe start having violent seizure-like fits, a candid metaphor for puberty, 11-year-old Toni experiences confusion, fear and eventually jealousy. This diverse 77-minute-long film features a stellar all-black cast as well as a commentary on the lack of clean water in low-income neighborhoods. Available on Amazon Prime. Girl Asleep (Australia, 2015) - Rosemary Myers Greta is the shy new girl in school, so her parents decide to throw her a surprise 15th birthday party and invite everyone in her class -- her worst nightmare. As she’s hiding in her bedroom, a strange critter escapes from her childhood music box. Suddenly thrust into an absurd, surreal, Alice In Wonderland-like world, Greta must venture on a quest to find the creature... and herself. Available on Netflix.
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Breathe (France, 2014) - Mélanie Laurent You may remember Mélanie Laurent from her role as the iconic Shoshanna in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Recently, she stepped behind the camera with her directorial debut about a pair of teen girls whose obsession with each other turns toxic. It’s probably called Breathe because you won’t be able to during the nerve-wracking last half hour. Available on Netflix. Mustang (Turkey, 2015) - Deniz Gamze Ergüven Mustang tells the story of five Turkish sisters who feel suffocated by the patriarchal, conservative culture they’re forced to grow up in. When their grandmother decides to start marrying them off to suitors against their will, the girls stage a rebellion. Ergüven’s powerful ode to sisterhood won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes and four Cesar awards, even snagging an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. Available on Netflix. Girlhood (France, 2014) - Céline Sciamma After an all-girl gang asks her to join them, 16-year-old Marieme finds herself entranced with their strong bond -- a bond enforced through physically fighting other girl gangs. Director Céline Sciamma made this film because of the lack of black teen representation in French cinema: White boys have Linklater’s Boyhood, black girls have Sciamma’s Girlhood. Available on Netflix. Pariah (USA, 2011) - Dee Rees Alike, a black teen poet living in Brooklyn, grapples with her lesbian identity; she wears baggy clothes to gay clubs with her friends, and then changes into a dress on the bus ride back home to her conservative mother. If you liked the purple-hued melancholy of Moonlight (2016), you’ll love Pariah. Available on Netflix.
Overcoming the Daunting Task of Combining the Arts and Journalism Katie Presley is an experienced arts writer for NPR and Bitch magazine and wants to see young journalists succeed.
Gabby Urenda Arts writing can be tough for journalism students, but the right advice can help an amateur create portfolio-worthy work. College graduates are sometimes thrown into the deep end and have to work next to professionals who have been writing for publications for years. Katie Presley, who is an arts writer for NPR and a music writer and editor for Bitch magazine, says success is possible if an author is honest about the challenges they face. For example, the current political climate is a difficult place for writers who are balancing reporting with personal opinion. If a band is being sexist, do you acknowledge it and continue talking about their album? Or do you give your opinion and forget about the music all together? “Be mindful instead of opinionated,” says Presley. Knowing the audience and publication you work for plays
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a substantial role in what issues you're allowed to cover involving the arts. Because art influences the society we live in and vice versa. But the way a journalist decides to cover a story can also make a difference. Presley says, “Being a responsible reporter solves those problems.” She faced an ethical dilemma involving sexism in music PR along with themes of sexual harassment, but relied on her editors—and cold hard facts—to be able to use words such as “inappropriate” and “disturbing” to describe incidents once they were no longer allegations. But it was tougher for Katie as she related to one side of the story over the other. Her editors kept her incheck by reviewing her article multiple times and asking her to back-up claims and identify sources.
But Presley also says to not lose your voice and style in the process. She identifies as a feminist, and writes for a feminist magazine, so her audience knows the angle she’s going to take. “Feminism is a pot-stirring path— everyday… Your writing is going to be offensive to somebody every time you open your mouth,” says Presley. “And often there’s nothing you can do about that.” But what a writer can do is inject a new perspective into the arts writing world, whether that be critically thinking from a feminist angle or finding new artists from different backgrounds and genres to pitch to editors. Presley suggests keeping a spreadsheet so a writer can notice a trend if she or he is pitching the same style of ideas. As a music editor, she pushes her writers to be as original as possible and isn’t afraid to turn down pitches in the process. “I am ruthless in my inbox about representation and I’m sure it would make some journalists’ toes curl to hear how much I’m
like, ‘White guys, nope. White guy, nope. Skinny white girls, nope,’” says Presley. She emphasizes the importance of an internal voice as a writer, so your editors don’t call you out for bringing the same mundane artists and performances to the table: be a critical thinker both when reviewing arts and pitching story ideas to a publication. At NPR, Presley focuses more on music and performance reviews rather than the social issues addressed in Bitch. She trusts her eyes and ears to give her the information she needs, and says young writers sometimes forget the tools they have. This can be tough for writers if they’re starstruck by an artist or intimidated about reviewing a performance. Presley understands the struggle, but says preparing and doing as much research as possible helps ease nerves and write a better story. “If all of what you’re saying about a record is that it’s ‘hotly anticipated,’ then you are saying nothing,” says Presley. “You have not done your job.”
“Feminism is a pot-stirring path—everyday… Your writing is going to be offensive to somebody every time you open your mouth,” - Presley
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To avoid a stale article, use the right adjectives to describe the music you’re reviewing. But don’t overdo it with the flowery words; the audience reading your article might not gravitate to descriptive language that comes off as elitist. By finding a balance, the author dodges the possibility of excluding readers rather than catching them up. However, this does depend on what publication you’re writing for. The publication a writer works for also plays into the protocol of trolling—something that is unavoidable in the digital age. As an aspiring arts journalist, your opinion is not going to match everyone else’s because it’s your job to critique
something others might hold near and dear. Presley says that some editors make writers read online comments about their stories—whether they’re constructive or not. “If you work for a place where your editors are not protecting you, push them to protect you and leverage the quality of your work against that protection.” Aspiring arts writers have many challenges to face in the industry, but feeling safe is a priority that Presley says trumps all others. “Do whatever you need to do to feel safe. That’s the most important advice I can give.”
Fruits By PEACHES
PEACHES is a multidisciplinary art and design studio headed by Julia Sherman and Thomas Sprott. PEACHES designs and creates highly thoughtful yet minimal objects that explore identity, self-expression, functionality, and color. PEACHES recontextualizes their work through product photography, which allows the duo to critique domestic and consumer culture through a feminist and queer lens. PEACHES prides themselves on the physicality and the labor they invest into their work. The forms of PEACHES derive from the act of physical making where objects evolve out of the hand. Forms are then researched, tested, and altered in an endless cycle that strives for perfection. Fruits by PEACHES is a slip casted pendant light series comprised of a high-fired and stained porcelain clay body. The forms in Fruits by PEACHES are left intentionally raw vitrified clay in some areas and are glazed in other areas. The matte surfaces from the raw clay contrast with the glossy surfaces from the glaze and further emphasize the exploration of light. The series is made up of of a variety of forms casted in different colors. These forms are intended to be interchanged and fastened together to create unique light fixtures of varying size, luminosity, and atmospheric effect.
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BLOOM By PEACHES
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Femenist Graphic Novels Hannah Taub
Graphic novels are a great choice for squeezing in some pleasure reading during the busy term because more pictures (and fewer words) make for a quicker, and often more entertaining, read! Here are a few of my favorite graphic novels that showcase strong female protagonists and present empowering themes of growth and independence. Bonus: most of these picks are written and drawn by women! Double bonus: all four of these novels have been made into feature-length films. Movie night, anyone?
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Rabbi’s Cat - Joann Sfar This is a great tale, beautifully drawn and elegantly written by Joann Sfar, which follows a cat that is in love with the daughter of a rabbi in Algeria. The reader learns about elements of Judaism as the cat’s master navigates adulthood, family, marriage, and cultural differences. Persepolis - Marjane Sapatri This autobiographical work weaves the childhood of Marjane with the unfolding of the Iranian Revolution. Sapatri addresses the sexism and suppression of freedom inherent to the regime, and tackles the complications of growing up in a politically tumultuous state. Ghost World - Daniel Clowes Ghost World is about high schoolers Rebecca and Enid, two friends navigating young adulthood in gritty 90s Seattle. They have hilarious conversations in coffee shops, pick through yard sales and run into plenty of interesting characters on the punk scene. The girls explore their sexuality, navigate tensions in their friendship and face the reality of adulthood and moving apart. Blue is the Warmest Color - Julie Maroh Clementine is a French high schooler discovering her sexuality and navigating how her queerness fits into her friendships and family life. Maroh writes the story intensely, never shying from the various elements of romantic and sexual entanglements, and highlights the rawness of first love, supplemented by absolutely mesmerizing pictures.
The Cycle of Feminis Hannah Brumbuagh-Cunningham
Yet another misunderstanding. No, I am not a man hater, No, I don't think women are better, I don't want to fight with you, I just want peace and equality. Here we go again. No, I don't hate men, No, I don't see women as superior, I am not looking for an argument, I just want to be treated fairly. And again. I am not against men, I don't believe men are inferior, Let us cease this quarrel, I just want the respect I deserve.
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sm Again. Not a man hater, Women aren’t above men, Let’s not brawl, Please try to understand. And so it goes, This never-ending cycle. On, And on, And on, Why don’t people respect me enough to try and understand? Doesn’t my perspective have any value? Yet the cycle never ceases. It continues on, And on, And on,
Sisters in Arms Kirbey Geissler
This is for my sisters. The brown ones, the black ones, the big ones, the small ones And everything in between This is for my sisters Because we come together like no other. We are a force. There’s no one like my sisters. Maybe we aren’t biologically related But our hands fit perfectly together And our voices fight in perfect harmony There’s no one like my sisters. We are blood. My sisters and I are strong. Their words of hate and misunderstanding bounce off our armor-covered chests We flex our words and actions until they run away in defeat There is no choice but to fight My sisters and I are strong. We are powerful.
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Emily Carpenter
Being Blind & Making Visual Art Interview with artist M. Sabine Rear IC: The zine features influential artists including everyone from Hannah Hoch to Vaginal Creme Davis, Yoko Ono to the Guerrilla Girls. You write that you set out to draw one artist per day — how did you choose which artists to draw and who to feature in the zine?Â
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MSR: I selected mainly artists whom I had learned about during my time in the Art History program at Portland State, because this was my knowledge base and that existing knowledge allowed me to work quickly. I wanted to draw from and synthesize all of the information that had been banging around in my brain. I also wanted to choose artists whose work came from a variety of perspectives and whose work is representative of a variety of movements and communities in art, and
which readers might encounter as they navigate museum and gallery spaces. I worked to represent artists who were deliberately erased from their particular art moments, artists of color, queer artists, artists working transnationally and artists whose work is considered "inaccessible," "unapproachable" or "pretentious." To me, these are criticisms that come from a lack of knowledge or a lack of willingness to meet the artist at the site where they are working. I also left out many artists! I do not consider this zine to be in any way comprehensive, and I hope that it will be a starting point for exploration into the work of marginalized artists. When I was asking people if they could name five women artists, the names that came up repeatedly were Georgia O’Keefe, Frida Kahlo, and Mary Cassatt.
I think these are wonderful artists, and I deliberately did not include them because I wanted to select women whose names I want to hear more often. Incidentally, I think that it is delightful that Kahlo's vibrant, violent renderings of her own disabling experience and O'Keefe's flower-vulvas have so completely proliferated our cultural consciousness with regards to art. IC: What has your experience been as a woman in the art world? How do your intersectional identities play a role in your art making and experiences? MSR: I feel so fortunate to come to my work from the strong, specific perspective of my embodiment as a blind woman. All of my work is about being blind even if it is ostensibly not, and the perceived conflict between being blind and making visual art is not lost on me (and is, unfortunately, pointed out to me regularly by sighted people). I have been visually impaired all of my life, but I became blind when I met a blind peer for the first time at age 20. This person encouraged me to use language
that felt right to me, not language that had been written onto my body by a medical professional. This moment of self-identification, and the gift of being encouraged to name myself, was a huge part of my ability to begin making art, in which I felt I could be honest about myself and the things that matter to me. Many times, sighted people have expressed astonishment at my ability to make art “in spite of” my vision. This is supposed to be a compliment. I wonder what the world would be like if people understood that the qualities they admire in me and my work are because of disability and not in opposition to it. IC: You’ve discussed how images of disability are often problematically represented as markers of limitation. How have you used your work as a counter to this flawed narrative? MSR: I think that lots of folks have honestly never met a disabled person! And our world is designed to facilitate this separation. I want my work to present narratives of disability that are nuanced and personal.
These narratives tend to be oppositional to how dominant culture understands the disabled experience, which makes sense considering the dearth of disabled content creators at every level of media production. I cannot individually meet and educate every clueless abled person, but I hope that my work can offer a counter-narrative about disability that evades the tropes of inspiration porn or abject moping and captures some elements of the full, vibrant lives I see in my disabled community.
IC: Your zine “Bending Spoons: A Field Guide to Ableist Microaggressions” has a social justice bend to it and is a useful tool for allies. How would you characterize the role of art in social movements/social change? MSR: “Bending Spoons” was the first zine I made, and it came out of a desire to communicate what I was beginning to grasp at the time about crip theory and my own quotidian existence in public spaces.
“I wonder what the world would be like if people understood that the qualities they admire in me and my work are because of disability and not in opposition to it.”
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Since making it, I have found that it is a powerful tool that I can hand to someone in lieu of carrying out a "teachable moment" that I may not have the spoons for. One of the exciting opportunities presented by art making is community building. When I share this zine with other disabled people, the sense of solidarity and understanding of our shared experiences with navigating an inaccessible and insulting world is absolutely intoxicating. When I table at events, I always hope to have one of these moments of mutual recognition. IC: How do you overcome creative blocks/difficult moments in your art process? MSR: Sometimes a block is about a block and all I need is a break or a new project. In those moments, I go for a walk, make an elaborate meal and watch a whole lot of professional
wrestling with my sweetie. Sometimes a block is about not wanting to work hard. That sucks. Sometimes hard work just sucks, and all I want to do is watch wrestling and eat snacks. In those moments, I take a moment to think through why I'm getting stuck, what I need to do to get moving and write myself a strict production schedule. IC: What advice do you have for young womxn interested in entering the art world? MSR: Show up, be kind, [and] make work you are excited to share. Imposter syndrome is real and it feels really bad try to be nice to yourself and believe in your work. Ask for the opportunities you feel ready for. Reach out to people you admire. Use language about your work that makes you feel like it is serious and important, because it definitely is.
You can find out more about Sabine on her website: michaelsabine.com. Her work is available via her Etsy store: MSabineRear.
History Is Ours, Let It Be Ours: John W. Scott and Kathleen M. Brown History is an art. If we label history a science, we limit historians’ ability to theorize why our ancestors lived the way they did.
Jaycie Schenone
In 1986, Joan W. Scott’s theory about gender was published in The American Historical Review and her theory has since been used by theorists, feminists, academics, and historians as a means for historical analysis. Scott’s reasoning behind the development of her theory stemmed from a dissatisfaction with the way historians treat women, People of Color,
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Native Americans and the LGBTQ community as subcategories of history. Thus, “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis” advocates for historians to integrate the experiences of all individuals and social organization into historical rhetoric and to refrain from using the term “gender” for only women.
Kathleen M. Brown, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs, utilized gender as an analytical category through the steps that Scott outlined in her journal. In Good Wives, Brown analyzed why symbols evoke multiple (contradictory) representations and how normative concepts limit possibilities in gender and race relations during Colonial Virginia; at the same time, she disrupted the notion of fixity through examples of alternatives to the binary and challenged power relations by breaking down how these institutions
built social constructs that have yet to be torn down. Brown’s art looks very different from the work I have read in my previous education. The history books that filled the shelves of my high school’s library listed facts that did not truly regard the work of these women or of women’s contributions to history. Instead, it was so malecentric that I could not identify with the stories at my fingertips. I am privileged to have access to higher education where the work of these historians is distributed, and I hope there comes a day when this form of art is at the fingertips of all.
e v o l Marian Fragoso Brooke Harman
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The Parodical is Political: An Interview with Actress Violet Paley Violet Paley, 23, is an actress, comedian, writer and director living in Los Angeles, California. She is currently in the Advanced Studies program with the improvisational comedy group Upright Citizen’s Brigade, and her short film, Chipped, which tells the story of a teenage girl who gets swept up in party culture, is being picked up as a web series.
Mia Vicino MV: Chipped seems to be very personal. Why did you decide to tell this story?
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VP: I want to bring a lot of awareness to teenage mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, and rape. A lot of the questions I get for Chipped are like, “Why is this character doing that?” And I feel like these people who ask that are forgetting what it’s like to be a teenager, especially a teenage girl. Like, whenever I watch a show like Thirteen Reasons Why or Skins or this Norwegian show called Skam, my 23-year-old self is like, “Hey, you guys are all being idiots and this problem could easily be fixed with logic!” But then I remember being in that mindset of “Everything matters so much.” Priorities aren’t straight and there’s no perspective. As a teenager I was extremely depressed
and I used drugs and I tried to kill myself. I feel like all of these issues are becoming more and more common, which is why I made Chipped. MV: Coming-of-age teenage girl narratives are so radically important, but I feel like they aren’t told enough. VP: Yeah! They’re getting more popular, though. I think this project is really thrilling because my writing partner, Carlotta Harlan, is also a 23-year-old woman who has suffered from depression. So it’s us instead of a whole bunch of white dudes in their 40s, and I’m sure can be great writers, but it’s different when something is written by someone who just experienced this five or six years ago.
MV: The juxtaposition of the neon lights in the party atmosphere and the pastels of the protagonist’s bedroom was awesome. Why did you choose to do that? VP: I wanted a big contrast between what it’s like when you first go to a party and it’s a glamorous new world. And when she goes back to her reality, everything is fluorescent and faded and gray -- like everything before that was just a dream. The lighting was really influenced by Paris, Texas. I think that film was all shot in natural light, but we had to use gels. MV: Were there any other important influences? VP: I’m really influenced by Andrea Arnold. I wrote Chipped after watching her short film Wasp, which actually won an Oscar. I also love Lynne Ramsay’s 90s short film Gasman -- that was another huge inspiration. Color-wise, the darker scenes from Thirteen. I think each color provokes a different kind of emotion, which was super important to me.
MV: Do you have any other upcoming projects? VP: I’m in a film called The Electra Complex which is also directed by a female director, Jessica Janos. It’s about her experience being a stripper and I get to play her. I’m excited about the project because it includes sex workers in feminism. MV: Who are some of your favorite women comedians? VP: Samantha Bee is killing it! She’s awesome because she’s in her 40s and she’s a mother and she made it later in her career. Her success isn’t based off of being young and hot -- she’s just a smart and funny woman. I do think there’s a lack of women of color in comedy, though. I love Marina Franklin. She is a Black comedian and hilarious and sweet and kind. I’ve met her in New York. But my number one favorite: Patti Smith. Everyone should read Just Kids and Train. She changed my life. She’s a poet, a performer, a musician, and kind of an actress.
After reading Just Kids, I realized that a lot of the things that I was worried about and consumed in was because of patriarchal Hollywood. Being in Hollywood, you can forget what’s actually important, which is the art. It becomes about fame and beauty. I think history shows how tragic it can be for women who can be considered sex symbols, like Marilyn Monroe or Edie Sedgwick. All these women were just known as beautiful and couldn’t express that they needed help because their primary purpose on this earth was just to please the male gaze. I think that’s shifting, but I want it to shift more. MV: Could you talk about the experience of being a woman in the maledominated world of comedy? VP: I think that it’s harder for women because of how our patriarchal society has made it so that it’s “unladylike” for a woman to be funny. And this stigma goes back to when women would speak up and then get sent to psych wards
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in 19th century Victorian times. There’s so much disgusting hate towards female comics… There’s just this whole internet world that bashes on people like Sarah Silverman or Tina Fey or any woman in comedy who says something that makes men feel a little bit uncomfortable. Like, I love Louis C.K. so much; he’s one of my favorite comedians of all time. But he can talk about his dick and people will laugh, and the second a female comic starts talking about her pussy, there’s this group of angry men that are like, “She’s not funny!” MV: Have you ever felt like you were in danger for speaking your mind as a woman? VP: There’ll be times when I’m scared while writing comedy or performing improv that I’m gonna say something offensive and they’re not gonna like it. I’ve actually felt jealous of men. Like, “Oh, I have a good joke but it’d only be funny if I was a man.” I have some of that mentality, which sucks even though idealistically it’s not true.
I’m not a huge comic, I only have a small following, but I get very intense hate on social media. People have found and messaged my parents on Facebook... Oh, and Tomi Lahren blocked me on Twitter! I feel like it’s a dangerous time to have a dialogue because we have a president whose huge following was shouting things like, “Lock her [Hillary Clinton] up!” Mexican people are being beaten up and Nazi symbols are popping up more and more. It’s really scary out there for a lot of minorities. I went to a minority panel after the election. It was led by queer people of color, Muslims, disabled people, and a lot of others who had less privilege than I do... I think it’s important for everyone
with a little more privilege than the person next to them to use their voice to stand up for them. And I try to practice that. Pointless art is cool, but I think right now people need to use their art to communicate. MV: Right, art is inherently political. VP: Exactly. I wish that more model figures would be more vocal about their stances on things. Especially since it’s a pivotal time right now for everyone who has any kind of platform or fame to stand up against the bigotry that’s going on. And if you’re not doing that, then I consider you complicit. Some of the best art comes out of times like these.
“I wish that more model figures would be more vocal about their stances on things”
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