W27 October 2019

FIT

Volume 53

OCTOBER 2019

Issue 1

October 2019

the community issue

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MASTHEAD

W27

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Mason Auman President & Editor-in-Chief Lola Cornillon Vice President & Managing Editor

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

Contents FIT COMMUNITY

EDITORS Erin Tucker Yajie Niu

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Reflections: An Exhibition at the Museum of FIT

ART

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Chelsea Hotel=Conversation with Professor Amy Sp

Mary Helen Guastello Art Director Lara de la Torre Director of Photo Steven Molina Contreras Deputy of Photo Ava Grindley Ariana Paino Dawn Bauer Sara Ricci Nicole Territo Zachary Linda Designers

Abstractions and New Beginnings Civility Week Breaking Bread: Building Community Through Sharing a Meal

PHOTOGRAPHY

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Transferring Into the Photography Program: Perserving to Find a Place

Is a Box? A Story of 10 What Struggle and Triumph

CONTRIBUTORS

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Aileen Laurila Alivia Matthews Awa Kaday Doumbia Brittany Evans Charlotte Spaid Dawn Bauer Elizabeth Scott Hannah Krebs Jessy Herzog Jim Liao Lara de la Torre Lola Cornillon Lydia Sant Mary Helen Guastello Mason Auman Nicole Territo Yajie Niu Zach Linda

Sunset, Sunrise: Brooklyn Film Presents A Film Photography Show by Immigrants in NYC

COVER SHOOT W27 has never been a one-person show. But, for this issue in particular, it feels disingenuous for me to posit or imply through this odd self-congratulatory soliloquy that it’s all come together due to my editorial prowess and determination. More than ever before, W27 has become a place of intensive collaboration and commitment, acting as its own organism with principal parts functioning entirely on their own. The burdens and responsibilities that come with creating a publication have been shouldered by a team of people who make it look effortless in spite of it being incredibly strenuous, time-sensitive and often difficult work. To even say “I owe this issue to them” probably doesn’t effectively do justice to the remarkable W27 team. Because this paper is much, much bigger than me.

Community Issue: Finding 12 The Community on 27th Street

W27 is our new Vice President, Lola Cornillon. W27 is our Art Director - Mary Helen Guastello - and her crew of designers who worked tirelessly to turn a misshapen Google Doc into a real and striking publication. It is Director of Photo, Lara de la Torre and Deputy of Photo, Steven Molina Contreras, both of whom were instrumental in the ideation and execution of this issue’s concept of “Community.” It is Editors, Erin Tucker and Yajie Niu, along with an exceptional and devoted collective of writers who manifest the engaging content you will soon read.

Ellen Davidson Alexandra Mann Faculty Editorial Advisors

Sincerely,

Mason Auman Editor-in-Chief, W27

W27 Newspaper

@W27 Newspaper

Shot & Edited by Steven Molina Contreras Steven Molina Contreras, Editor’s Photograph

www.w27newspaper.org @W27 Newspaper

www.issuu.com/w27newspaper

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W27 is PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER. PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING. A FIT STUDENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION.

Finding Strength As a FIT Community Leader

SUSTAINABILITY

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Exclusivity in Environmentalism: Where Accessibility is Lacking in Sustainability Eforrts

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Sustainability at FIT: A Conversion with Sydney Bigalow, SGA Secretary of Sustainability

FASHION

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The Magic of a Yellow Dress

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Christian Louboutin: In Conversation with Valerie Steele

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Work! A Queer History of Modeling By Elspeth H Brown Disney on Broadway Makes Magic with FIT

CULTURE

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Community at Camp

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Oddity, Punk, and Goth: All Outcasts Come to Life at All Hallows Circus

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Little Fires Everywhere: A Birds Eye View of Diversity Taking Root

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How Trash Became Art: An Interview with Filmmaker Steve Yaeger

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And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that W27 is, ultimately, the entire FIT community. This issue is inspired by and written for our diverse, eclectic, energetic and evolving ecosystem of students and faculty. I hope you enjoy.

ON THE COVER:

OP-ED

Call Me By Your Name Sequel: Will Find Me Fill in All the Right Gaps?

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COMMUNITY

Reflections

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIELLA LIGUORI

An Exhibition At The Museum Of FIT

BY ALIVIA MATTHEWS

The Fall 2019 Semester is about a month in and already, we’re all working so hard.

This includes the 10 student artists whose work is currently displayed at the Reflections Exhibition at the Museum of FIT. This is an exhibition featuring the works of students from both the Photography and Fine Arts departments of FIT’s School of Art and Design. Filled with the nostalgia of summer and their wandering thoughts and experiences, the students put together an exhibition of captivating photography, drawing and mixed media collage, all under the guidance and courtesy of Professor Curtis Willocks.

Before even entering the exhibit, one might think, “What exactly is a reflection?

In what context is the title being used?

What is being reflected?” As conscious beings and as humans, we go through life constantly being stimulated by our surroundings and the world around us. We, as artists, are influenced by every encounter we have whether we realize it or not. As defined upon entry, to reflect has three main definitions: to give back or exhibit as an image, likeness, or outline, to bring or cast as a result and to make manifest or apparent. “Art is a mere witness, or a faithful reproduction of reality” and the term ‘reflections’ was interpreted by all of the artists, whether about self identity or the people around them. A wonderful, and rather ambiguous introduction to these ideas began with the work of Daniella Liguori. The photographs, although seemingly simplistic in nature, create stunning effects the longer you observe and stare into them. The subject being the artist herself in lone and abandoned backgrounds creates a great psychological effect, which was her intent (and executed quite successfully). An open book, Ligouri in her artist statement says “I want my images to resonate with each person differently, and relate their own emotions and experiences to each photograph, regardless of what my own intentions were while creating them.”

Diving a little deeper beyond the entrance of the exhibition are many other great photographic series that reflect (no pun

intended) the extensive theme of the exhibit.

Different subject matters and different viewpoints are everywhere, from personified New Yorkers to female body image.

And considering all the cultural and social developments that have happened within the last few months alone, shedding light on its impact on us as people is crucial. Playing along the concept of day-to-day perspective, Krystena Patton invites us to look through her eyes, in her work justly titled, Through my Eyes.

Spending her most formative years as a child in the cultural powerhouse of Sacramento California, her exposure to various media artists led her to discover photography, a passion that would later become a creative outlet and career path. And through the eyes of Patton, we see the life of a woman living in New York, a student’s experience in the city. In her most recent work displayed in the exhibition, the photos were shot on 35mm film and a film simulation “mirrorless with attention to light play and a focus on subjects that accentuate a student’s experience in the city; [the purpose being] to explore her own identity by capturing those of others.”

As we go further into the exhibition,the projects get grander and the themes and depictions seem to rise in complexity and ambiguity. Noteworthy and eye-catching titles include SHOW ME THE REAL YOU and Melancholic Wet Dream by Alexandra Espinsoa and Jasmine Garoosi, respectively. For Espinsoa’s piece, the theme is self identity and the journey to find yourself, a seemingly recurrent albeit important ‘reflection’ in the exhibition. At first glance, the complex painting has many different elements that can be hard to discern; however the more you look at it the more it pulls you in and leaves an unexpected impact.

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

Chelsea Hotel Interview

BY CHARLOTTE SPAID The Chelsea Hotel is an ancient place that holds so much rich history for artists of many. Artists of all kinds lived there, like Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Leonard Cohen, Mark Twain, Jimi Hendrix, and many more. I have always been inspired by it, and to hear the story of someone living there rocked my world. I met Professor Folke this year in my strategies of business communications class. I brought up that I was reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, and he had mentioned that he used to live in the Chelsea Hotel in the 70’s. From then on I was intrigued; the art community at the Chelsea Hotel back then was one of a kind. I interviewed Professor Folke about his time at the Chelsea and what made the art community so special to him.

Ted Folke said that he had always wanted to make films ever since he was a teenager. He made his first film in 1972 in Boston, it was a science fiction thriller about the destruction of the Brazilian Jungle. Folke came to NYC in 1974 at the age of 24 with this “film under his arm and showed it to everybody who would look at it”. He had a friend who worked at the UN and mentioned their TV station, so he took his film to the UN and got a job. Folke took the position of someone named Simone who was out on leave, and he ended up making films for the UN. When Simone returned, they instantly became friends. Simone lived at the Chelsea and ended up getting Ted in.

From the floating faces, to the contrasting colors of bright red and cool tone blue, and the burned holes into the canvas, there is a lot to take in and receive. A personal piece, it displays the weight of grief and trauma combined with the desire to expand her artistic horizons; and the struggles to connect with flaws and struggles as a person and artist, hence the shocking intensity of the burned holes into the canvas. Jasmine Garoosi’s Melancholic Wet Dream stands as a beautiful, surrealistic wall on its own toward the end of the exhibition. An overall symbol of companionate love and the complex relationships between women’s bodies and ourselves and society, Garoosi uses analogue photography to beautifully capture diary-like entries of females’ first experiences with the body. In this day and age where the female body is still viewed as something so controversial with varying standards, viewpoints and centers of attention, it was refreshing and quite beautiful to see her ironic use of the naked female body to make a powerful, feminist statement.

Every artist has undergone their own reflections and produced poignant pieces that are definitely worth checking out.

Come see the work of your fellow peers and artists and experience for the exhibition for yourself. The exhibition is open until October 26th, 2019.

Folke ended up moving from Park Slope to Arthur Miller’s old room on the third floor, room 310. Folke said it was quiet and it had a fireplace. Paying only 300 a month, sometimes artists would trade their artwork for rent. “The common preconceived notion of the Chelsea Hotel was that it’s a place where artists went to die”. But the place was filled with a good mix of serious artists. It was like “the hub of the underground.”

Folke started a new script set in the Chelsea called To Be Thirty.

Through living there he met many wonderful people. From the Warhol crowd (and Andy himself), to Shirley Clarke (who he ended up working for later), to William Burroughs, and even Lou Reed. The Chelsea was a wonderful place to create art, Folke said he was always “sucking in the ambiance all the time and everything was interesting.” Being a “bohemian” himself, he loved it. The hotel was built in 1884 and has stunning architecture. Folk said, “Everyone was friendly and supportive if they thought you were a serious artist. Nobody tried to hustle me and everyone was very cool. You could let anyone look at your art and they would give you feedback.”

Back then, Ted felt that the art community in the ’60-’70s was flourishing. “Nobody had any money and that’s the whole difference,” Folk said. There was a specific openness and enjoyment in those days, Folke said, “it was a great time to be there, and I was very young.” A lot of things that came about in his life were by connections and knowing the right people. “And that’s the thing about connections,” Folke said, “It’s important to get together with other artists, you can’t do that on the internet.” And that’s just painfully true.

Then Professor Folke started telling me that artists in the ’60-’70s truly had a lot of freedom and less pressure to make money. But when the ’80s hit, “everything became about money and became more expensive,” and then everything changed. From then on, the Chelsea Hotel wasn’t the same anymore, and some people weren’t about the same things. This possibly could have changed the art community forever. Ted Folke then moved out of the Chelsea to Union Square. In 1982, he finished his next film called Supernova.

Later, he started teaching at FIT in 1997, then in the early 2000’s he left for Thailand, East Timor, and the Congo to do a TV show for the UN. Professor Folke has done incredible films for the UN, including The Sambra project, one called East Timor: Betrayal and Resurrection. He returned back to FIT to teach in 2012, and he lived at the Chelsea just before it closed for renovations. It sadly did not have the same lively spirit as the ’70s did.

After listening to Professor Folke’s wonderful story, it was inspiring to hear about his life as an artist and the community he had grown in. It makes me wonder, being an art student myself, how we can all make the most of our time here now. A community can at times be difficult obviously. But maybe it takes the extra step of creating an environment for growth and friendship like the Chelsea Hotel. Though nothing may be the same again, we can choose to go against the grain of modern times and technology to create this space.

I encourage you all to check out Ted Folke’s work or take one of his classes.

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COMMUNITY

W27

Abstractions and New Beginnings at FIT ART & WRITING BY ELIZABETH SCOTT

Life is better when we see things optimistically. I wanted to create something that will reflect my relation to life. I was inspired by Russian and Asian Cultures, where everything is so colorful and pleasant to the eye. Every person has an ability to see the beauty, to see something interesting. Especially when you are taking pictures in the streets-- you never know what you will find. Life, Photography and art are very spontaneous things. There is no strict rules for what you can do as an artist. People decide what art is related to them and they choose their own inspirations. Personally, my inspirations are things that are not so noticeable, like the reflection of the clouds on a car. Our inspirations help us to move

Our lives have a funny way of being unpredictable. Three years ago, when I was living in Kyrgyzstan, I would have never imagined that I would have my own photo exhibition, here in Manhattan! I suppose dreams do come true, and everything has a purpose in our lives if we’re willing to dream big, and sacrifice a lot to achieve them.

The decisions we make ultimately affect us as well as the people we meet along the way.

I just transferred to FIT from my previous college, LaGuardia, and they offered me an opportunity to exhibit my work. With the help of the FIT photo department in advertising my show, I had a very successful opening. My exhibition

is about abstractions. It is all about shapes, lines and colors. I wanted to create a different reality, where you can rethink everyday objects around you. It is all about imagination and what you, personally, see. All people are creative, because different people feel differently, using their own visions, they say their own opinion and ideas. We all are photographers, we are photographing these important moments of our lives through our eyes, our lens, and reviewing it through our memory. Through these images I want to bring something positive into our negative world.

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

Civility Week at FIT

forward. Life is beautiful, because there are thousands of interesting thing to do, to enjoy and to love.

Poetry, music, Kung-fu and good, peaceful environments shaped my personality. When I was a child, I knew that I wanted to do something creative in my life. In New York, I feel that I found something that I wanted all my life: to see people from all over the world, that understand each other, and also to be connected to my own culture, to be able to swim in the Ocean, to be able to take a train wherever I want to go, to try food of all kinds and flavors, to be able to study what I want and then work in this industry, to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. I always dreamed of

coming to the United States. In less than three years, I’ve made the most images in my life, I feel like I want to capture every day, every moment of being in my new Home, New York City. The main purpose of art is to unite people.. My exhibition is for everyone. You don’t have to know a lot about abstractions or surrealistic art to understand my work. I wanted to make it simple, to use geometry and create a Fine Art Photography that can make you feel something, make you wonder what it is in the image, to make you able to have your own associations, thoughts, questions. The people who view my work make my life even more meaningful. Because it is how you will grow as an artist, as a person, by listening to criticism and

by having the desire to improve yourself and your skills. So, photography has brought me to New York, where I feel a sense of belonging. And it’s only beginning. FIT makes me feel like a student of art - which I love. FIT is a brand new school for me, it is another start for me, it makes my life more interesting and fun. And it expands my knowledge about my passion, making art. ■

PHOTO COURTESY FIT

BY MASON AUMAN

PHOTO COURTESY KELVIN CHUCHUGA

My exhibit is about abstractions. I wanted to create a different reality, where you can rethink everyday objects around you.

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For the second year, FIT is putting on its now-annual Civility Week program of events. From October 21st through 25th, the school will be hosting a series of speakers, panels, and events. Alexander Heffner – the host of The Open Mind on PBS – will be featured as the keynote speaker of the opening session. Following the kick-off, “How to Courageously Talk About…” – a panel about reaffirming a commitment to overcome societal barriers, build bridges and restore civility will take place, along with a myriad of other panels and discussions centering on the concept of open discourse and inclusivity.

Wednesday night is movie night, with a screening of Won’t You Be My Neighbor? slated for 5:00 pm in the Haft Theater.

The film, directed by Morgan Neville, showcases a man, Fred Rogers, who had an unwavering dedication to the value of respect, kindness and care for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.

Other notable events include “Vernacular as Resistance,” “Conversations Without Confrontation: A Workshop on Civil

Communication,” “Civility on Film with Students from Michael Cokkinos’ Video Class” and “Accessibility is Civility.”

cultures as a means of creating something engaging and beneficial for the community.

Guests at the convention include:

The week concludes with an appropriately ambitious and expansive all-day event – the second Diversity Comic Con at FIT, hosted by Ramon Gil. Diversity Comic Con will take place in the John E. Reeves Great Hall. Roz Chast, the award-winning New Yorker cartoonist, will deliver the keynote address for this convention celebrating diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism in comic books and graphic novels arts.

There will be booths lining the Great Hall – featuring nearly 100 artists and creators, displaying their work in an effort to benefit the FIT community. There will portfolio reviews and panels held throughout the day on topics such as webcomics, animation careers and costume design.

The finale of the day is a cosplay pageant.

The through line for all of the Diversity Comic Con festivities is the promotion of inclusion and diversity in comics and fandom, as well as a mechanism to teach students how they might draw on their own

• Heather Antos • Trevor Von Eeden • Rodney Ramos • Whit Taylor • Alison Wilgus • Gina Galiano • Andrea Colvin • Regine Sawyer • Keith Williams • Stephanie Rodriguez • Indira Jainanan • Stan Chou, Omar Mirza • Chris Sotomayor • Micheline Hess • Karina Karsinova, Emily Ree • Shea Zubair • Glenn Hauman • Evan and Quinn • publishers like Ahoy Comics, Forward Comix, Wave Blue World, and Comics Forces

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COMMUNITY

W27

Breaking Bread “High, Low, Buffalo?”

The multifaceted question is posed at many of my family mealtimes. The question’s origin is unknown but its purpose remains clear. Share something good about your day (high), divulge a less than joyous moment (low) and lastly, share a serendipitous event (buffalo). Eating food as a family was the zenith of my day, and it serves three important functions; it fosters meaningful relationships, provides support between family members and allows us to process the happenings of our day. Elbows on the table, laughing about the way my dad chews and then - college in NYC approached like a thief in the night. Holed up with shameful takeout on Friday nights, or sitting alone in the midst of a crowd. Community at the Fashion Institute of Technology was somewhat of an elusive concept. The saving grace - the glamorous FIT dining hall. It wasn’t the meal itself, or the atmosphere alone, but the ritual as a whole. A shared meal is a moment of respite, a point at which multitasking is impossible and conversation can be languid and haphazard. The idea is simple, to break bread, and converse with others.

The effect is powerful. I sought to highlight the contrast between students who frequently ate at the FIT dining hall and those who did not. Is eating a meal with someone the only way to build a strong community? Perhaps not, but it may be the most important one.

Throughout childhood into the tall grass of adolescence, the dinner table is both a playing field and battle practice. One can hone social skills and try on preverbal new shoes until a pair fits. Parents ask questions, how did that test go, how is that friend of yours? These questions allow one to find categories for things that happen to them. Was that fun, interesting, good, exciting? Family meals, in all their imperfections, are perhaps the single most consistent activity families partake in, mine included. Everyday, something occurs that needs to be processed, and sharing that with a support system is a vital part of how life’s schemas are built and deconstructed.

Where can one find this construct in an urban college setting?

It would not be out of line for the statement to be made that community looks quite different in New York City than in rural areas. The transient nature of the city, the endless sea of faces, takes a toll on healthy socialization. College in any urban environment provides a new set of social challenges. The eyes are constantly receiving new information, new faces. When exhaustion seeps into the marrow of our bones, it can be difficult to fight that and be in the company of others. Copious amounts of experiences need to be processed and assessed. That is, however, precisely why eating a meal with someone is so important. That one hour slot, that unavoidable meal to fuel our energy is the crux of human interaction. Daily, humanness requires one to sit down, and consume a meal. No agenda to be had, no school-oriented nature, just food. The act of sitting, all on the same level, eating typically the same food,

Building Community Through Sharing a Meal

BY LYDIA SANT

neutralizes and equalizes people of different social and cultural strata’s.

The importance of the FIT dining hall in cultivating school-wide community should not be underestimated. Not unlike family meals, it is a natural, consistent way to build relationships and maintain them throughout college.

Within FIT, there are many ways to interact with the college endeavor. Living in an apartment-style dormitory versus a traditional style, can impact how often one leaves their room and communes with other students. Matthew Anderson, a fine arts student in his second year, lived in an apartment-style dorm freshman year. Anderson regards his first year as a time for growth and newfound independence, “To be honest, the only structure I did have was with my classes.” While the hectic whirlwind of studies and social life made it hard to find time, Anderson often ate with friends when visiting the dining hall. “I would see people I knew there and sit with them, other times I would mostly plan to go with people.” Eating with others is how structure can be established in a hectic college life. When asked how FIT could benefit from implementing more community Anderson responded, “I feel so independent is crazy…

I don’t like to feel forced to make friends. School events can feel like a forced way to make friends, I’d rather naturally meet someone.” While living in an apartment style brought Anderson a sense of independence, with perhaps less social structure, traditional dorms are a different lifestyle entirely.

Second year transfer student Natasha Agnant discussed the dining hall’s critical role in continuing community building in college. Because her dorm style lacked a kitchen, Agnant ate at the FIT dining hall. Growing up, Agnant’s family shared the “peaks and pits” or highs and lows of their day, and mealtimes were an environment of safety and encouragement. Agnant sought to find similar camaraderie during her first year at FIT. “My roommates and I consistently ate breakfast together because we all had morning classes.” Because of this habit, Agnant grew in friendship with her roommates, which set the pace for the rest of her school year.

In her resounding work “The Lonely City” Olivia Laing writes, “What does it feel like to be lonely? It feels like being hungry. Like being hungry when everyone around you is readying for a feast.” The acute pains of loneliness establish themselves in new form during college. Eating alone is an activity particularly painful for the human race, and the city provides many opportunities to do so. That hunger for human connection should not be ignored. It is needed and supplied through the mundane act of breaking bread. The FIT dining hall is a space where that can happen, little moments with people over food. Seeking community feeds the soul.

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

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Transferring into the Photography Program Persevering to Find a Place

BY DAWN BAUER & JESSY HERZOG

A community that’s not often spoken for is the transfer students here at FIT. It’s easy to forget that some students didn’t get their start on 27th Street. For us, we’ve had two years of a different education with different people and different technology. Especially in a small major, transferring isn’t as smooth and welcoming as some are led to believe. Our experience starting at FIT in the BFA Photography program has come with struggles, and we believe it’s important to share our story.

Dawn: When I was graduating from high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but my parents wanted me to go to college, so I decided to major in something I was passionate about: photography. Not wanting to waste my parents’ money, just in case I wasn’t going through with schooling, I chose to go to community college. In two years, I got my Associate’s Degree at Suffolk County Community College. From there, I wanted to finish my Bachelor’s degree, so I transferred to FIT. The day I got my acceptance letter I literally cried tears of joy. FIT was my only shot at finishing my degree since photo is such a small major and not offered at many schools. As much as I was nervous to start at a new school and move away from home, I was extremely optimistic about going to FIT and meeting all my new peers.

Jessy: When I first started college back in 2012, I was majoring in Graphic Design, and it wasn’t until my first photo class at my community college that made me switch to Photography. After taking a few years off from school, I felt like I was so behind. Everyone in my classes were so much younger than me, and I felt like I would be the odd one out. But my classmates were nothing but welcoming. We truly became a family. When I was applying to pursue my Bachelor’s degree, FIT was my only choice. After my portfolio review and going on a tour of the school, I knew this was where I was meant to be. My whole life changed that morning I opened my mailbox to see that big, beautiful envelope marked “Congratulations!” I was teary-eyed in the post office and will remember that moment forever. The weight of my future was lifted from my shoulders, at least for the next two years, and I couldn’t be more excited to make the big move to New York City to meet other artists like me.

D: The thing about Suffolk that I loved so dearly was the friendships I made. Since the major was so small, everyone knew each other and we were all friends. Sure, some people I was closer with than others, but it was never a matter of cliques.

We were all friends and all helped each other out.

Leaving the family we cultivated is what made graduating from Suffolk so heartbreaking for me.

But still, I looked forward to FIT and making a new family.

J: At my community college, I was so excited about coming to class everyday. The studio was such a sacred space, you never wanted to leave.

Everyone was so excited about shooting new projects, working together to execute everyone’s concepts. We were the best team, always supporting each other’s ideas. Our class was so small, eight people at most, so you could say our critiques went pretty fast, but they always felt genuine. We were so close. We just got each other, and we respected each other’s work. When you have a connection like this for two years, it’s only natural to be nervous about packing up and starting over somewhere new with a brandnew group of people, but I was nothing but hopeful about the journey ahead.

D: My first bump in the road was during orientation week. On the day for all the different academic programs to meet individually, there was an AAS Photography meeting, but no BFA one.

My roommate and I went to the AAS meeting and asked the person ushering students in if we should attend but were advised not to because it was for freshmen. Not having a welcoming meeting to tell us anything about the program ended up being a huge disadvantage to us because we didn’t know anything about the studio or equipment, and we didn’t get to meet any professors. This alone was alarming, but what made it worse was that we didn’t get to meet any of our peers before we were shoved into class together.

J: I remember orientation so vividly, and how instead of making me feel more at ease for the upcoming week, I felt nothing but stressed. There was nothing offered for incoming students who weren’t freshman. I was wondering when I would be shown the photo department and how everything worked, but I was told since previous transfer students haven’t attended the orientation for incoming Juniors, it was no longer being offered. I would just have to hit the ground running on the first day.

D: On the first day of our photo class, we - transfer students - were immediately picked out of the bunch. Everyone was asked to introduce themselves: “Tell us your name, if you’re a transfer or not, and what kind of photos you like to take.” As we went around the room, meeting everyone, it was clear that one side of the room was transfers and the other side wasn’t. That’s how it stayed for the rest of the semester.

J: One of the first things I noticed in my first photo class was how quickly we were asked to identify ourselves as transfer students. You could tell right away who had been there years prior. They were very familiar with each other and the professors.

It reminded me of my photo family back at home, but this time I was on the outside looking in.

D: From day one I felt secluded from everyone that wasn’t a transfer, while all the other photo kids were buddy-buddy. I had my roommate and a few other friends, but if one of them wasn’t in a course with me, I’d go the whole class without talking to anyone, watching instead of participating. Every critique, only one or two people would pipe up to talk about my work, then everyone would fight to discuss the four-years’. I was reduced to the unpopular weird girl in a movie about fitting into middle school. Perhaps some of this was my fault because I’m shy and don’t normally put myself out there, but I honestly tried. I’d sit next to people I’d had a friendly conversation with in the past and make some small talk, but the minute our professor sent us on break, they’d ignore me in favor of the friends they already had. Then I attempted to reach out over social media, replying to stories or commenting on posts. In response, I’d get generic thank yous and no follow back. At some point, I needed to keep my dignity and accept quality over quantity, so I gave up trying to be friends with everyone and stuck with the two or three people I had.

PHOTO COURTESY DAWN BAUER

J: Most days, I felt like I had a scarlet “T” plastered across my chest. After many attempts to create this newfound photo family, I eventually found solace in other students just like me, searching for a place to belong.

Because nothing brings people together more than uncomfortable situations.

D: I remember one critique where a student made a project about a recent breakup, and one of his friends addressed the group, saying: “You transfers won’t really understand this, but we were a family before you all came, and when they broke up, it made a sort of divide in our photo family because she’s still in our major.” As if we were intruding into their family for transferring into the program. I’m sure he didn’t say it as an attack on us, but it perpetuated this idea that we were unwelcome guests.

PHOTO COURTESY JESSY HERZOG

J: Most days it felt like the term “transfer” was a bad word. Students who had started here would get openly offended when they were asked if they were one. They would come up to me and with attempts to be flattering, tell me that my work was “much better than they expected for a transfer student.” What was that supposed to mean? It felt like before every explanation, there was a disclaimer. “For those of you who aren’t in our family…” They were a family, so we were left to create our own.

D: This semester, it’s been a little easier. I’ve slowly made more friends that aren’t transfers and been able to survive the social hierarchy, but I still feel ostracized. Just a few weeks ago in my senior photo seminar class, I was showing my work and mentioned how I find it hard to share more personal stuff because it makes me vulnerable. One girl piped up, in an attempt to be sympathetic: “I know you’re a transfer, so it’s going to be harder for you to show more personal work because you haven’t been with us since the start, but I assure you that this is the most welcoming and open-minded space.” It was nice and all, her saying this, but in reflection on my past year at FIT, the idea that this was the most “welcoming and open-minded place” was laughable. I feel anything but welcome here. I walk into a classroom full of my peers with no one saying “hi” to me and no one for me to say “hi” to. Since I’ve transferred, I’ve been on the outside looking in on relationships and a community already built and full to capacity. I don’t want to make it seem like no one has been friendly. There have been people that have taken me under their wing, like Lara de la Torre for example, who introduced me to W27 when I first started at FIT, and I’ve been writing and designing for the paper ever since. I was still able to find my community; it just wasn’t the one I expected. I found refuge in other transfers who felt this same isolation I did, and, somehow, we’ve made it this far.

J: I feel like as an artist, you long for this sense of community of others who feel the same way you do. Creating is an incredibly personal process, and then sharing it can feel like putting your whole heart out on display. Community is what you make it, and I eventually found my own community amongst other students who transferred right into the same situation. You will always come across situations where you might not fit in, and that’s okay. When a puzzle piece doesn’t fit, you don’t force it. And that’s how I’ve begun to approach my relationships here. Just because you don’t fit into a specific spot, that doesn’t mean you aren’t part of the bigger picture.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

W27

FIT

Sunrise, Sunset

What Is

Brooklyn Film Camera Presents A Film Photography Show by Immigrants in NYC

ABox Box A A Box

BY MARY HELEN GUASTELLO

O

n Friday, September 13, B[x] Gallery hosted an event to celebrate the opening of a photography gallery put on by Brooklyn Film Camera – Sunset, Sunrise. The roster of individuals featured in the show is comprised of 10 immigrant artists from all over the world including Peru, El Salvador, Columbia, Venezuela, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Brazil and China. Notably, one of these artists is FIT student and photographer, Steven Molina Contreras, who migrated to the United States shortly before his sixth birthday nearly 15 years ago.

PHOTO COURTESY RON AMATO

To You?

A Story of Struggle and Triumph

BY NICOLE TERRITO A box and a concept. This was how The Box was born.

W

hen FIT professor and photographer Ron Amato had come up with the concept of The Box, it came to him in the form of a… well, box. As a professor of the photography department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he had these two prop boxes specially made by FIT’s carpentry department for students to use as props. These wooden boxes are used by photography students for models to sit on during shoots or for the photographer to stand on to get a better angle. They aren’t at all meant to be seen in the finished product. Well, when Amato had these boxes made, they were never able to be used because they were too heavy and large. These two boxes then became the boxes he used in this body of work. But, this was only one factor that contributed to the creation of The Box.

“

Emotion all portrayed by gesture.

In Italy, stands the Loggia Dei Lanzi. A landmark with high décor arches and below them: statues. This is where Amato found his first spark for inspiration. The statues stand on pedestals and hold much emotion for being objects of stone. Emotion all portrayed by gesture. These humanistic statues hold positions that have the body twisted and bent in peculiar ways and the facial expressions on their faces are a whole second degree of emotion.

In addition to the Loggia Dei Lanzi, Amato found much inspiration in the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe. Mapplethorpe had a body of work titled The Body, which he photographed female and male models nude. Both Mapplethorpe and the Loggia Dei Lanzi highlighted the human body and celebrated it instead of hiding it away.

With two boxes and inspiration ignited within, the process had begun.

OCTOBER 2019

What Is The Box? At first glance, The Box is loud and may even catch some people by surprise. When creating this project, Amato wanted to tell a story. Is own story, in fact. And every story has chapters. The Box is divided into eight chapters: isolation, longing, adversity, conflict, desire, connection, community, & empowerment. These chapters were derived from Amato’s own life growing up and finding acceptance as a gay man.

When shooting, Amato had models pose with the box.

He had the models act out an issue and where they used the box. Many models had shot nude before and were not too phased. But many times they were alone in front of the camera. But for this project, Amato paired models together, while nude. Despite being naked in the company of a stranger, models found comfort and connection. As viewers, we are able to receive this sense of familiarity portrayed by the models.

In a community, we find comfort, haven and understanding.

Amato’s body of work conveys a sense of intimacy that portrays insecurity and strength with a clever balance. In a community, we find comfort, haven and understanding. The LGBTQ+ community holds much importance in finding a strong sense of community in which is called your chosen family.

In The Box, Amato tells the story of his life as a gay man; experiencing struggle then finding acceptance.

In which many can relate to, whether in the LGBTQ+ community or not. Today, The Box helps people find comfort in their sexuality and even gives strength to those who need it. A counselor in Berlin uses Amato’s book to help students come out as a member of the gay and lesbian community.

A story of truth, struggle and acceptance, The Box is a work of art that radiates inspiration and strength to keep pushing through the lows. Because even though you are in darkness, it makes it even easier to find the light.

“

Because even though you are in darkness, it makes it even easier to find the .

”

The following words provided the context and framework for the show, and were printed boldly at the entrance of the space: “To immigrate is both an ending and a beginning. An exit from a life one has always known, and an entrance into a new life of unknown possibility. Immigrants are motivated by a variety of reasons, but one word in particular comes to mind - hope. Immigrants are called many words these days, but one word in particular comes to mind - brave.”

“Sunset, Sunrise will exhibit work by ten immigrant photographers living in NYC. Their work will be united by its creation between the hours of sunset and sunrise; the liminal space between days. It will explore the rich tones of sunset, the darkness of night, and the explosive radiance of morning light. It will explore people, homes, emotions, and beauty. It will explore the many diverse photographic visions of immigrants here in this beautiful city.”

As dictated by the format and concept of the show, each artist showcased four images which best depict their experiences and understanding of immigration and how it has influenced them. Some of the artist images displayed reflected or referenced that of their inspiration and significance in being an immigrant , as well as photographs that express a desire to preserve and maintain cultural foundations in the face of an American pressure to assimilate. These photos, displayed on the walls lining the gallery space, are available to purchase with 10% of the proceeds going to an immigrant rights organization called Make the Road based in Bushwick, and 70% – a nearly unprecedented amount – going directly to the featured artist whose work is being purchased. Sunset, Sunrise will be open until October 18, so please check it out and support local immigrant artists, as well as the very brilliant, exquisitely talented Steven Molina Contreras – who I had the privilege of speaking with on opening night.

While all of his pieces featured demonstrate tremendous character, Contreras has two pieces in his selection to which he is partial. One of which is part of a diptych –a tightly focused image of bricks, with a hand coming in from beyond the viewer’s perspective, both subjects joining together. To him, it conceptually means a lot of things – “You get a sense of foundation building, an anonymous aged hand which plays with time and who the subject is and what’s she’s been through,” Steven said. With reference to time-passed, the image also alludes to a strong matriarchy that exists in his world. The light in the image is abstracted, making it difficult to ascertain where the image is set, therefore allowing it to be its own amorphous setting. His other favorite is a photograph of his little sister, a lone figure, holding herself up and standing on a swing. The swing is evidently hanging from a tree, but to the viewer, its obstructed in view. According to Contreras, part of his story is communicated through her and their shared experience of living in the absence of a father, her for three months and him for most of his life. She is situated on a swing that she has outgrown, with an almost adult-like expression, juxtaposing the adolescent setting. It conveys a sense that she has had to find strength and maturity before she should have, needing to hold herself up in a country that isn’t structured to do that for her the way it historically has been for others. The image looks ahead a bit, to her adult life, where this early experience will inform her interaction with the world.

PHOTO COURTESY STEVEN MOLINA CONTRERAS After spending much time reviewing his art and observing others examine the profound depths of his talent, I overheard Steven explain to a friend who was studying the diptych, “This is our land and no one can take it away from us,” in reference to the foundation his family has built. Something so special and admirable about Steven is his ability to be so articulate about photography, what it represents, and how it evokes such sharp emotion and thought.

I asked Contreras how art shapes him as an individual and finding pride in being an immigrant. He told me, “Being an immigrant before this, I thought that the label would deter me, only recently did I realize that it’s a unique experience that most people don’t have, and I shouldn’t be afraid to say that I am an immigrant. – that I come from a different land. Yes, I am a part of America’s story, but I will always have two lands to call home.” When asked about what he hopes can be taken away from viewing his art, Contreras considered the question for a moment, before responding: “There is a sense of celebration going on in my family. There’s an introspection of our journey and what it’s meant for us. And, even though we have struggled, I want viewers to walk away from my art with a sense of strength and cultural resilience – us having gone through experiences like those portrayed in my work. I want them to see this as a part of them. Beyond a story of immigrants, I want viewer to look at it and see a part of themselves within the art.”

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12

W27

COVER SHOOT

Finding Community on 27th Street

FIT

The Freshman Experience

BY MASON AUMAN, ZACHARY LINDA, AND LOLA CORNILLON A collection of discussions and thoughts on how we seek community and connect with each other at The Fashion Institute of Technology.

BY ZACH LINDA

Zach Linda: What are a few words you would use to describe your experience here at FIT, so far?

The following conversation took place between myself and freshman students from majors at FIT which exist on two sides of our course spectrum. By discussing the differences and similarities between these two experiences, we can learn about what it’s like to enter the FIT community through the eyes of a new student.

Film Student: I’d say that it’s friendly and open-minded, and we love being able to take advantage of the city being our campus. I also love the security, which makes it feel a bit safer even though the campus is in the middle of a massive city.

Shifting the Narrative

AMC Student: Fun, expensive, amazing, welcoming, adventurous and it’s felt like home almost immediately.

Beginning here was confusing, but in a freeing way.

BY MASON AUMAN The Fashion Institute of Technology is a petri dish that fosters an immense amount of creativity and expression into being - it allows students to actualize the version of themselves that they may have felt somewhere beneath the veneer only a few years earlier, as hopeful upstarts who felt different from their peers. But, in spite of or perhaps because of this - our school has also been notoriously heralded by those within it as a particularly harsh and difficult environment to make friends, especially if you hesitated when all of the “networking” banter was being poured on during orientation week. “You never know, the person you’re sitting next to could get you a job!” never felt like an adequate reason to struggle through the sensation of needing to construct a new world of human connections from scratch.

Some of you, though, were able to do it - and for that I envy you. Many of the students here end up in the former category. Having missed their brief window for a shared experience upon arrival, they retract into the type of shell they perceive all of their peers to have as well. But ultimately, those fortifications are only there because they too have bought into the narrative that posits this place is one of isolation.

ZL: What are a few words you would use to describe your classes here?

AMC: The classes are way longer than they were in high school, but they are much more informative and captivating.

The fact that the classes are for stuff that we want to do makes them much easier to enjoy.

Film: Our classes are interesting and almost exhilarating. Some require more prior knowledge than we had, but catching up is more interesting than I expected because the texts incorporate popular movies.

Since the classes are longer and less frequent, you’re essentially required to pay full attention the entire time and

An Interview with Taivy LaPalmer of the Black Student Union

BY LOLA CORNILLON Taivy LaPalmer is a Bachelor student who has been a member of the Black Student Union for over a year. She is an entrepreneurship major with a minor in economics. Taivy has found her FIT community through joining BSU; a space for diversity, creativity, and an embrace of different backgrounds. In addition to BSU, Taivy is a member of the Diversity Council at FIT.

PHOTO COURTESY STEVEN MOLINA CONTRERAS

FIT, being a decidedly non-traditional college, providing a non-traditional college experience, offers unique challenges when it comes to finding community. Our campus can feel absorbed into the larger cityscape, making it easy to forget that the people you see on 27th street are sharing a specific experience with you - not actors in the pre-existing and intimidating metropolis of anonymity that stretches out in all directions.

My aim is certainly not to provide some sort of how-to on how to make friends, that would be a reductive and an unfairly simplistic attempt at

OCTOBER 2019

getting out of our aforementioned predicament.

Instead, with this piece and - more broadly this issue, I’d like to highlight some of the builtin structures of FIT that exist for the express purpose of creating community. To start, W27 is a school-club for everyone that prides itself on its wide-open dialogue and accessibility. Even the process of ideation and execution of this issue was conducive to a sense of togetherness that permeated our collective and cut through the tension that the bustle of FIT can create.

At the time of writing, it’s still quite nice outside,

and our Manhattan city block is consistently vibrant and buzzing with the energy of the FIT community - only recently have I recognized this so acutely. Maybe it’s important for us to embrace this sensation of a shared experience now, and hold onto it. Because while it will get colder and darker - that energy can still be maintained by reorienting the narrative of our community. Much like nations, histories, images and brands - our community is the story that we believe. Let’s make sure that story is a diverse, inclusive, communal, good one.

Lola Cornillon: What drew you to joining the Black Student Union originally?

What is special about the club?

Taivy LaPalmer: I was initially drawn to the fact that there was an entire school club devoted to celebrating and acknowledging black people. That's incredible, and I do not take it for granted.

What is so special about BSU is how unique all of the members are. Some students grew up with country roots, African countries, some rep the islands, west or east coasts etc. At BSU you get multiple layers of diversity, creativity, talent and backgrounds.

LC: Has BSU helped you to find a space for community on campus?

TL: Oh yes, definitely! I first transferred to FIT for Fall 2018 and it was my first time living on any college campus. I think a huge concern for me was finding a place where I felt welcome since most of my classes were full of students

ask questions as soon as you don’t understand something.

ZL: Have you been able to find a “community” here yet? Is that community here involved with your major?

Film: To some degree. There are people who aren’t in the film class that I’m still friends with, but that’s mostly my roommates and people I met at orientation. With the help of my roommates and other friends we were able to each sort of form larger friend groups. Once classes started and we worked with each other, we were able to form friendships more easily.

AMC: Some of us have formed more friendships with upperclassmen to avoid some of the “drama” that comes with meeting so many new people.

That sometimes makes it harder to be friends with other freshmen, but not impossible.

Once we started joining clubs it was a bit easier to have friends other than just our roommates.

ZL: Do you have a lot of the same people in all of your major courses?

AMC: There are a couple people that we have more than one class with, but essentially completely different people in every class. It’s fairly rare to see the same people in

who did not look like me, and at the end of the day, I could not go home to my family on Long island. I remember calling my mom after my first BSU meeting with tears of joy because I felt like I found a second home.

LC: What are your favorite parts of being a member of BSU? TL: I have so many favorite parts about being a member!

Being able to have a voice and encourage others to get involved or volunteer. I love our kickbacks when we can safely talk about anything and everything on our minds or just be silly. I love brainstorming/planning events for black history month and our fashion show, and being able to call them my family.

LC: Do you think that FIT has a strong community?

If so, in what ways?

TL: FIT is great at encouraging students to go out and find their niche. We love events, panels, volunteering etc. But I believe that our clubs could

our different major courses.

Film: With the exception of our Intro to Film class, there’s only one section of our film classes, so we see the exact same people for each major course. There are a few people that are in the other Intro to Film class, as well as some that transferred from other schools and have that credit from their previous school.

ZL: Do you wish you had a lot of the same people in your classes?

Film: I like having all the same people because then we get to know each other pretty well in a shorter amount of time.

Since we have our classes together and we’re always sharing our own work or the work of others that we enjoy, we’re able to see each others personalities easily. Having the same set of classmates does make it a little more difficult to meet other people since we’re so used to our small class.

AMC: I don’t really want to have a lot of the same people.

It would start to feel a bit like forced interaction, since I would see them (nearly) every day and it might feel like we were expected to be friends. I like having a variety of classmates, it increases my ability to meet more people and make more friends.

benefit from working crossfunctionally more often. I also want to see FIT continue to support black students and continue to provide us with the platform we need to have a positive impact on the student body. There is a lot of love here, a lot of passion, and a lot of talent to be acknowledged. And once we do, we'll be even stronger.

LC: Do you have anything to say to someone curious about the club?

TL: Yes! Black Student Union is diverse, fun, and inviting to everyone. We have meetings every Tuesday in Pomerantz D523 from 1-2pm. We do everything from planning our BSU Fashion Show to volunteering around New York.

We have game nights, guest speakers, activities and we always support our members.

If you want to be part of the fun and support black students here at FIT please come in and link with us. BSU is here to be experienced and to help FIT students thrive!

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14

OP-ED

W27

FIT

Finding Strength as an Fit Community Leader

Where Accessibility is Lacking in Sustainability Efforts

BY AILEEN LAURILA

At that moment, I felt alone, confused, and defeated. There was this void in my mind that I couldn’t seem to fill. It didn’t make sense to me; the entire situation just felt unreal. I was rushed to the hospital alone. I texted my roommate and, somehow, she ended up at the hospital with my sister and her boyfriend within 30 minutes. Everything was unclear, and it took a long time for me to receive medical assistance. You would think a woman who was rushed into the hospital with blood on her face would be tended to a bit quicker. I was there with no answers but many assumptions. I wasn’t given any medication, so I was enduring a lot of pain. I was suffering from a fractured skull and an immediate loss of hearing in my left ear. I was bleeding internally. I was immediately ordered for stitches and surgery; they ran two CT scans on me the night of the 26th. But for some strange reason, I was released and discharged at six AM the next morning. Knowing I had a brain injury, they sent me home with no medication and no instructions.

Later that day I went to an urgent care because I was in excruciating pain - I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t move, and my eyes were sensitive so I couldn’t even open the blinds in my house. I was just profoundly uncomfortable. The urgent care gave me Tylenol and urged me to go back to the emergency room.

On Sunday the 28th, I rushed back to the hospital in Staten Island in an ambulance due to fainting again. After testing was completed, they said I was suffering from a concussion that they failed to pick up at the first hospital. At this point, I was just tired and not used to my new way of

life. Losing a sense and being exposed to so much radiation so rapidly began taking a toll on me. I felt like the world was against me, and I couldn’t seem to make sense of it. I kept asking myself what I did to deserve this. That void still exists in my mind, and I find it extremely hard to sleep at night, not knowing what happened to me or how I ended up in the train tracks.

Mentally, I’m drained, physically, I am unable to do the things I love to do. I was a dance instructor, on my way to being a supermodel and a creative director. Modeling was my passion, and dancing is a way of healing for me. I am back in school just three weeks after my accident, and I am fighting for myself. I know I should be taking the semester off due to my brain injury, but if I do it would affect me, mentally. School has been challenging due to my disability, but I am pushing through. I am also an RA on FIT’s campus, and I believe in giving my residents the experience that I wished to receive from my RA. I love my job and all of the people that I get to inspire.

I’ve become the Vice President of the Black Student Union. I worked so hard for this role, and it is my baby. My primary goal within this organization is to create a platform and establish a brotherhood and sisterhood on this campus.

I chose to take this unfortunate situation and learn a lesson from it. Sometimes you have to lose one thing to gain something else. In my case, that was knowledge. I learned a lot about myself and the people around me. Some only show up when things are good, but for me to heal and overcome this adversity fully, I had to recheck, re-align and start over. I am on the journey to finding my tribe, and I only want to be surrounded by positivity and love.

I believe that I have a purpose. I was three minutes away from dying - but I was saved. The devil was working hard, but God was working harder. I am meant to be somebody in this life, and I will stop at nothing to achieve what I set my mind to. This is only the beginning — just a minor setback for a major comeback.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY STEVEN MOLINA CONTRERAS

15

Exclusivity in Environmentalism:

OP-ED BY AWA KADAY DOUMBIA I’m just here trying to figure out this thing called Life. On July 26th, I was on my way home to Staten Island, when I almost lost it. I was on a train with no AC and felt extremely dizzy when I stepped off. I had to sit down and, upon sitting, I asked the lady next to me for water. She didn’t have anything and was unable to help. Three minutes later, I begged her for help, and she looked at me and said she is unable to do so. That is the last thing I remember from that night, I woke up in an ambulance, feeling restrained and confused. The first question I asked was, “Where did my skateboard go?” The paramedic responded: “Is that what you’re worried about right now?” He then informed me that it was a miracle I was alive - I had fainted and fell onto the train tracks at Fulton Street Station, with the A train only 3 minutes away.

OCTOBER 2019

Like many people my age, I feel the weight of our dying earth on my shoulders.

With this unfortunate reality, I feel an incessant need to be hyper-conscious of my consumption as well as the waste I produce, and to encourage others to do the same. However, with the knowledge that the fate of our planet is in the hands of the wealthy and powerful, these efforts seem insignificant. Sure, we can vote for preemptive action to be taken, but what can be done right now?

The answer to that question has proven to be complex. We are facing early signs of mass extinction because of colonization, indigenous displacement and genocide, corporate greed and capitalism, modern gentrification and many other issues that are tedious to dissect. Realistically, plastic bag and straw bans aren’t going to be the final solution that saves us all. The responsibility to solve this issue lies in the hands of those who created it; the powerful, white and wealthy. With this troubling truth in hand, I still believe in personally showing the earth acts of kindness when I can. By using earth-friendly cleaning products, searching for reusable alternatives for household essentials, and shopping second-hand, I am frequently challenging myself to implement more sustainable practices into my life. Through this quest to improve my personal habits, it has become apparent that many of the mainstream sustainability movements prove inaccessible to many, and can be enforced in ways that are classist and ableist.

I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and learning about sustainable practices was present in my education from as early as kindergarten. We had a worm PHOTO COURTESY AILEEN LAURILA bin for compost in the third grade, visited salmon conservation sites, and spent three days in the forest learning about soil types and Oregon wildlife in middle school. I feel lucky to have received an education that helped me understand the delicacy of our earth, but that is a privilege not many people have. Upon moving to New York City last year, it became apparent that the habits I had grown accustomed to back home didn’t fall perfectly into place here. Compost was something that got picked up from my house weekly, like garbage, not something you had to take to an assigned drop off site. Plastic bags have been banned from big retailers in the city of Portland since I was in elementary school. I had to adapt, yet also realize that New York City has a lot more resources for eco-friendly living than most places in the U.S. There are many organizations within the city trying to make earth-friendly habits more easily attainable. As of now, there are at least 150 food scrap dropoff sites in New York City, but there is so much more that needs to be done.

Compost, proper recycling, and waste management are not the only aspects of “environmental-friendliness” that seem to skip out on certain communities. There seems to be an influx of surface-level “solutions” to our climate crisis being marketed by large corporations to distract from the bigger is-

sue, corporate greed and environmental irresponsibility. The most prominent of these being the push for a plastic straw ban. While major chains like Starbucks have stopped handing out straws, it has been called to the forefront that this movement is ableist and somewhat counter-intuitive.

An instagrammer, @jessicaoutofthecloset, posted a video in April of 2019 explaining how banning plastic straws would be a huge loss for those with dis abilities. She explains that reusable straws aren’t a viable option for many with autoimmune diseases, drinking without a straw can be a struggle for people who have limited mobility, and in some cases, drinking without a straw can cause aspiration and choking. She points out that out of the 8 million tons of plastic infiltrating our oceans each year, plastic straws are only .025% of that. Single use straws have been replaced with plastic sippy-cup lids, which doesn’t seem to be an improvement considering the entire cup is still plastic.

Veganism is another movement that has been swept into the mainstream over the last decade. Due to staggering documentaries and video content released exposing the brutal insides of meat and dairy farming, many people have chosen to go plantbased, myself included. As with any movement, there are extremists, and those who forget that not everyone has the resources, funding, support or stability to make drastic lifestyle changes such as going vegan. Its upsetting to see those who cannot go fully vegan being excluded from important conversations regarding environmental justice. I am one to encourage anyone and everyone who can to try and adopt a vegan lifestyle.

It is, however, equally important to recognize that not everyone has the access or the ability to adopt these practices, and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

In today’s society, we are constantly being fed lies about what is best to do for our environment, often used to mask or distract from the bigger picture.

The deeper you dive into sustainable living practices and products, the more complex the issue seems to get. We need to be conscious of the sustainability movements we promote, and how we promote them. Inclusivity among marginalized communities is essential in the fight to better our earth. Personally, I always feel in a place of moral conflict for wanting to encourage taking part in aspects of eco-friendly living, yet realizing that we have not created a system in which that can be widely accepted and practiced. In a world where our mortality is in the hands of greed, it is an uncomfortable truth knowing our personal and individual contributions to bettering the earth are likely insignificant.

In times like these, the best we can do is try. Listen to the indigenous people who have been fighting for the earth and their land for decades, be gracious with one another, and vote for people who see the earth’s state for what it is.

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SUSTAINABILITY

W27

BY ZACH LINDA I recently got the chance to sit down with Sustainability Committee member, Sydney Bigalow, to discuss sustainability at FIT. SB: My freshman year, I was on the Sustainability Committee. This year, in addition to the Committee, I am in the SGA as the Secretary of Sustainability and on the President’s Committee.

ZL: In a perfect world, what do you want to accomplish here at FIT? SB: I don’t want to say it’s only in a perfect world, because I think that it’s attainable as long as everyone begins to understand the impact and take action. In my time here, I’d like to help create an ethical shift of culture in FIT students. I would like to create a mental shift in terms of people’s consumption of wasteful products.

I want to bring these issues to the forefront of people’s minds. As humans, we have a responsibility to take a stand for people who are at a disadvantage [people who live in poorer areas and having to deal with more of the effects of climate change]. As business majors, we are the future of the business world. To be able to make a difference then, we need to learn how to now.

ZL: Can you tell me more about the Sustainability Committee?

SB: The Committee is open to all students! The idea is that anyone can bring me issues on campus that they’re worried about and I can do my best to fight for a solution.

I want to use the Committee to brainstorm everything; initiatives, programs, events, and ACTIONS [such as clean ups]. I want to find ways to actually make change, and I want people here to join me. I also want to start a Students Against Single Use petition to get the school to completely stop selling single use plastic materials.

ZL: What started your interest in sustainability? Why has this specifically become the world issue that you focus on as much as you do?

SB: I grew up in Louisiana, which has faced a lot of environmental issues. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina de-

stroyed much of the area. Part of the reason the damage was so severe was that the government did nothing about the complaints they received regarding the levees. They knew that the levees needed repair but they made no action to fix them.

Then, there was the BP Oil Spill, where an oil drilling rig exploded and leaked 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill destroyed many aspects of life in Louisiana. While a natural disaster such as a hurricane cannot be prevented, lawmakers can enforce not using fossil fuels and further destroying the Earth.

ZL: What has FIT done so far in terms of sustainability?

SB: So far, FIT has reduced its carbon footprint by about 50%. This school managed to do that before any other school in the city, which is amazing. I think what we should try to do is switch to entirely renewable energy. In a more short-term sense, we should get rid of ALL single use plastic on campus as well as unnecessary paper waste. Many professors have students print out articles, essays, or homework assignments that can all easily be transferred back and forth online.

ZL: What do you think is stopping people from taking steps towards a greener Earth?

SB: I think it’s a lot of things. Even in today’s society, there needs to be a greater stress on the importance of taking action now, before it is genuinely too late. Many people don’t believe the gravity of the situation yet. Being unaware how serious climate change makes it difficult for some people to want to make true steps to bring about change. Social sustainability and environmental sustainability are completely entwined, so having people aware of the gravity of the situation is vitally important.

BY JIM LIAO ZL: What are some of the events you’re planning for the Sustainability Awareness Week? When is it?

SB: The events we have planned so far are a Panel with the FIT Hives, which is in collaboration with the Honeybee Conservancy. We also have Greenpeace tabling in the Breezeway during the farmer’s market. Greenpeace is an organization dedicated to fighting for a greener future. I’m planning on doing a ThinkTank [brainstorm session] where I hope other students bring concerns and ideas about how to make our campus more eco-friendly. The SAW is going to take place from October 14th through the 18th. In addition, I want to try to do a Initiatives Action Night, which will be a safe space for supportive dialogue. I hope this will give people a chance to talk about things they are worried about.

ZL: If you could do one thing for your fellow students, what would it be?

SB: I want to empower the people around me. When people feel empowered, change is possible. Many feel like that isn’t true, but it is. A nearly-perfect, sustainable world is achievable. We’re on the way to that, step by step. I believe we can help create the ethical shift needed by informing people. I feel like people need to know that there are small things they can do that will help, and they will see that it isn’t difficult. In the future, I’d like to be a congresswoman fighting for greater sustainability in the world [if the world hasn’t been destroyed already].

“We don’t need a few people making huge steps [towards sustainability]. We need everyone taking small steps.”

the magic of a yellow dress

PHOTO COURTESY HANNAH KREBS

BY HANNAH KREBS I will never forget the feeling that washed over me as I tore open the delicately wrapped boxes to reveal the tiny dresses inside. Sometimes there were as many as ten boxes towering over me in a neat, but daunting stack.

My mother said that my Yia-Yia loved to shop at Marshalls and TJ Maxx, and she knew that my dresses were bought there because “Yia-Yia never removes the Price-tags.” My Yia-Yia was a seamstress in Greece before immigrating to America in the 1950s and starting a family in New Jersey. She often tells me stories about her past life and how she met my Papou. One of my favorite stories is about the time she wore a bright yellow dress that she had designed and sewn which caught the attention of all the men in the village, including my Papou. But even though she was interested in him, he had to work to earn her hand in marriage. According to her, he proposed five times before she finally agreed to marry him. It was as if she was telling me the plot of an old film starring Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe, movies where the actresses were dressed in Dior or Givenchy and men swooned over their simple and elegant beauty. It felt like a work of fiction, but it wasn’t, it was a dream-like reality, a reality that every romantic longs for, a reality that sparked my interest in fashion. I have always been fascinat-

ed with art and because I lived near Baltimore City and Washington D.C., I had access to a variety of art museums, allowing my creativity to flourish.

As a child, I drew constantly, wrote and performed comical plays with my friends, made up playground games and even personalized greeting cards online for pretend family members.

When I was in elementary school, I lived in a world with no worries and no limits. However, when middle school began, I felt less secure and out of place. I still had friends from my neighborhood and girl scouts, but there were strangers and less welcoming faces, as well. By the end of 8th grade, I had made a few new friends who were creative and cared less about popularity and more about character. This group of friends helped me get through those difficult years, and when I reflect on that time, I realize that I wasn’t alone in my feelings of awkwardness.

I was intellectually, but not socially prepared for high school. My parents promised that high school was better than middle school, which was partially true because I had more friends - but the culture remained the same, one that implicitly rein- forced a rigid social structure. Any attempt made by anyone who dared to cross a social

OCTOBER 2019

17

PHOTO COURTESY SYDNEY BIGALOW

Sustainability at FIT: A Conversion with SGA Secretary of Sustainability

FIT

line was quickly thwarted by rude looks and exclusion. As a shy, quiet girl, I seemed to gravitate toward those who weren’t immediately accepted because, like me, they didn’t stick to any conventional behavior and as a result were treated as outcasts.

I didn’t bother trying to talk to anyone else because I believed that they wouldn’;t understand me, judge me, and ultimately reject me. In an ideal world, I would have connected with people that had more in common with me than simply being outcasts.

As I became more aware that I couldn’t relate to my friends in any other meaningful way, I began to spend less time with them and opted to entertainmyself at home by watching classic movies. As my interest in old films grew, I started expressing my creativity by adopting the style of iconic characters.

For example, after seeing Rebel Without a Cause I rushed to pur- chase a black leather motorcycle jacket to emulate the rebellious style of James Dean and styled my hair like Natalie Wood. I copied the Western style of John Wayne and bought a pair of cowboy boots and somw turquoise jewelry after watching The Searchers. I was particularly captivated by the wild hairstyles and fashion

in Conversation with Valerie Steele

E

ven if you know nothing about fashion, you will still be familiar with Christian Louboutin and his signature “red soles” shoes.

Louboutin is undoubtedly one of the most successful shoe designers of all time. People save up for years just to get a pair of his masterpiece; in fact, they even regard their Louboutin’s with such pride that owning a pair seems to elevate their social status.

Now, years after he started in this industry, Louboutin’s masterful designs are still being recognized with reverence by women. Despite the growing business of sneakers in womenswear, Louboutin’s designs still capture his customers’ attention. We had the honor of inviting Christian Louboutin himself to FIT to speak to us about his creative process and to give advice to young designers. The following dialogue took place between Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Christian Louboutin.

Valerie Steele (VS): When did you first realize that shoes were important to you and make you want to do shoe design?

Christian Louboutin (CL): I was pretty young when I started. I started sketching shoes around the age of 12. I’ve always liked it, but I didn’t know if I would want to pursue it as a career. The turning point was when I visited a museum displaying African Art, I learned that women were forbidden to wear heels to protect the extensive wooden floor, and I wanted to defy that and make women feel

confident. A friend of mine gave me a book about Roger Vivier, the shoe designer for Christian Dior at that time, this was when I realized that shoe design was what I wanted do. However, it wasn’t until the age of 17 when I decided to dedicate my life to make shoes for a living.

VS: When and how did you start your own label?

CL: I had worked for different people and companies for a long time. After years of working under designers such as Folies Bergère and Charles Jourdan, I realized that I couldn’t work for someone else. I wanted to create my own designs, so I decided to start my own business around 1989.

VS: At what point and under what circumstances did you suddenly think of the red soles?

CL: The story behind the red soles is that I’ve always liked colorful designs of shoes from the profile, but when I turned to the back of the shoes, I realized that the sole was black, and I wanted to change it. One time, after the fitting [of my shoe collection], I noticed that my assistant was painting her nails in a red shade, so I just grabbed her nail polish and started painting the bottom of the shoes. This became my signature. Also, in the early 1900s, most women in France dressed in black, so I thought if I were to add a color it has to be red because red is a special color, and it makes shoes sexy, as they are supposed to be.

VS: What advice would you give to a young shoe designer?

CL: You really have to work. Everybody gets inspired by their surroundings, but to not have documents you’ll have to oblige your memory and get inspired from it. For instance, I created a pair of shoes inspired by one of Andy Warhol’s paintings with florals in it, but my design only had 3 petals and a few colors instead of the actual number of petals and colors as the original painting. The two flowers had nothing in common, but still I was fully inspired by the painting. If you have no documents, you would have to use your own memory to interpret something that inspires you in your own unique way, which can make the inspiration into your own creation.

VS: What interests you right now and how does it fit into your work?

CL: Everything is interesting in a way.

However, there is one thing that has always been sensitive to me which is “artisanship”. The world is changing, and many arts are disappearing. In my opinion, it is important to keep elements such as different architectures, different patterns, different techniques from all these different cultures.

However, a lot of these elements are getting lost. I think artisanship is a really sensitive topic to me.

In fact, I would love to work with an artisan to preserve the lost art by incorporating it into my work.■ ■

PHOTO COURTESY FIT

of the 1970’s depicted in the film Shampoo. The fashion of this period has had the most lasting impact on me. I continue to be intrigued and influenced by the late 60’s and early 70’s culture, resulting in my recent obsession with the styling of Jane Fonda’s character in Barefoot in the Park. If it hadn’t been for this difficult period in my life when I turned to classic films to pass time, I probably wouldn’t have matured, confirmed my interest in fashion, and acknowledged that a world existed outside my immediate one.

FASHION

Work!

W27 PHOTO COURTESY LAUREN REEVES

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A Queer History of Modeling

in Conversation with Elspeth H. Brown

REVIEW BY JIM LIAO

On September 25th, Elspeth H. Brown, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto, visited FIT to talk about her new book Work! A Queer History of Modeling.

Like her previous works, Brown’s new book is about the correlation between gender and photography, with a focus on the queer history of modeling. In Work! A Queer History of Modeling, Brown traces the history of modeling from the advent of photographic modeling in the early 1920s to the rise of supermodel in the 1980s. Brown started off the presentation of her new book by introducing the model Tracey Norman who is considered the first transgender model in the fashion industry.

Norman was intentionally fired by her agency after they recognized that they had misgendered her. According to Brown, it wasn’t until Baron Adolph de Meyer, a renowned portrait photographer in the early 20th century, embraced queer modeling that made the fashion industry accept this new group of models.

In fact, de Meyer brought a queer aesthetic to Vogue where he was hired as its first staff photographer. As a photographer, de Meyer especially favored model Dolores (Kathleen Mary Rose) because of her mysterious look that transcended the boundary between femininity and masculinity, which presented the notion of queerness in the early 1920s. Brown then mentioned another photographer in the 1960s that also supported and contributed greatly to queer modeling, Richard Avedon.

Avedon, similar to de Meyer, favored a model called Donyale Luna. In the April 1965 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Avedon directed a photoshoot with Luna wearing an asymmetrical dress. This dress, created by designer James Galanos, was considered avant-garde at the time and provided the public with strong visuals that expressed the notion of queerness.

During the rise of supermodel in the 1980s,

Naomi Sims further advanced the history of queer modeling as the first black supermodel that had participated in numerous photoshoots. On that note, Brown concluded her presentation on the first few chapters of her book, but she strongly encouraged those who are interested in knowing more about the history of queer modeling to read her book. The following dialogue took place between Elspeth H. Brown and the audience.

COMMUNITY AT CAMP In Recognition of Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Brown: I underestimated the research that can be used for the book. There wasn’t that much research from before, especially from the 1920s. Back then, women’s names changed over time as they get married, so it was hard to track their real identities. Also, both editorial and commercial modeling required different kinds of research. I had to go to and through many places and media to get the information needed. In fact, at first, I was doing more of a radicalization of the modeling industry, but then I realized that I was more interested in queer modeling.

Audience 2: What’s your next project?

Brown: I am currently doing an oral history project about queer family photographs to build up connections for the queer community in Toronto. It is more of a public research project, but overall, I am not so certain about what comes next.

Audience 3: What are some codes or terms that are used in the research that you found interesting?

Brown: For this book, I had gone through many different terms such as gay, duchess, queer, and so on. But honestly, I think

this question is under researched to begin with because there isn’t that much proper research to define such complex community. Different time, different places, and the lack of resourceful research are all elements that can contribute to so many different terms on this topic.

Audience 4: What is one of the most surprising things that you found during your research?

Brown: Probably how many members of the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A. (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual (Transgender), Queer, Intersexual, Asexual) community are in modeling’s history, or to be more precise, those that had been documented. Also, there is so much fashion photography that involved the notion of queerness in modeling.

PHOTO COURTESY FIT

BY LARA DE LA TORRE

A

OCTOBER 2019

Audience 1: What were some challenges you encountered while writing the book?

Disney on Broadway Makes Magic With FIT fter a process of over six months, the fruits of ten FIT Fashion Design students’ labors are finally home and on display in the Pomerantz Art and Design Center lobby. These ten talented creatives were chosen as finalists in the challenge posed to the Fashion Design department by Disney on Broadway.

The company wanted to find a unique and exciting way to celebrate their 25th anniversary - ultimately deciding on reaching out FIT to see how students would reimagine designs for some of their most iconic leading ladies.

Gerard Dellova, one of the two faculty advisors on the project, gave me a little insight as to how exactly the process played out: “We had 100 students show up to the info launch last semester which was extremely unusual, normally we only have about thirty to forty. Each student was allowed to submit designs for two characters maximum. My colleague, Michael Kaye, an adjunct professor and the second faculty advisor on the project, our other colleague Susanna Moyer and I edited down all the submissions to the best three per character which were then sent to Disney for the final decision.” Once selected, the chosen students were then given the

FIT

opportunity this past summer to meet the Broadway actresses playing the character they designed for; the next three months were spent bringing their garments to life. The winning students were also given the opportunity to appear on Good Morning America’s Strahan, Sara, and Keke show to discuss their final products and what it took to achieve them.

Out of the almost 100 students vying for the coveted finalist spots, the ten chosen were Marianna Gonzalez, a fourth-year student from Brownsville, Texas who designed for Jane from Tarzan, Eunhye Jo, a third-year student from Seoul, South Korea who designed for Rafiki from The Lion King, Ashna Moogi, a third-year student from Bangalore, India who designed for Elsa from Frozen, Yelayny Placencia, a fourth-year student from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic who designed for Anna from Frozen, Ruby SeoHee Shin, a fourthyear student from South Korea who designed for Nala from The Lion King, Annette Stone, a fourth-year student from northern California who designed for Jasmine from Aladdin, Paige Walker, a fourth-year student from Ontario, Canada who designed for Belle from Beauty and the Beast,

Georgianna Wells, a fourth-year student from Memphis, Tennessee who designed for Katherine from Newsies, Baoqing Yu, a second-year student from Taishan, Guangdong, China who designed for Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Sooyoung Yun, a fourth-year student from South Korea who designed for Mary Poppins Each of these artists’ garments are a testament to the unique and very specialized fashion design program we have here at FIT. Almost every concentration the department offers - intimate apparel, sportswear, children’s wear, knitwear, and special occasion - somehow made its way into every look. For example, Baoqing Yu’s lovely, water-inspired

aspects of not only just swimwear, but special occasion, as well. Paige Walker’s two modern takes on Belle are also excellent examples of concentration combinations through the employment of techniques from intimate apparel and special occasion.

After a huge response from not only just the FIT community but outside parties, as well, the length of the exhibition has been extended from October 6th to October 13th; there has not yet been talk of our school pairing up with Disney again just yet, so be sure not to miss seeing these innovative designs on your way in or out of Pomerantz!.

PHOTO COURTESY LOLA CORNILLON

BY LOLA CORNILLON After learning that October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, I’ve been thinking a lot about my favorite place in the world, Camp Anne.

It was three in the morning. I woke to Javier rolling me back and forth, mimicking the motion of a boat in such a way that both intensified a peaceful dream of a handsome fisherman at sea, and sent immediate panic throughout my body.

“Lola, Lola. We missed our alarms.” He said my name in such a pleasant way, like listening to a waitress shred cheese over the pasta on your plate, or the excitement of a new friend; I wanted to hear it over and over, while being rocked back and forth like a newborn baby. “Lola, it’s three-thirty.” If only in that moment I had the wherewithal or the sheer consciousness to text my friend Sophia that I had woken up at 3:30, the time we set our alarms to in middle school so we could talk in the middle of the night.

Immediately and like on auto-pilot, I tossed my legs over the bunk-bed, and hoping to not wake the camper below, jumped down, scraping my stomach along the metal framework of the rickety bed. I hit the concrete floor with a pound.

“I’m ready,” I said, and then a couple more times because I wasn’t quite sure what I was thinking and what I was speaking out loud.

Javier and I took on both sides of the cabin together, first the left and then the right. We shined our flashlights on each bed, momentarily waking each sleeping camper to ask if they needed to use the bathroom, or change their pad – some jumping up and scurrying to the toilet, often ready to engage in full conversation, or ask to listen to the radio. I could listen to Morgan talk about dinosaurs all day, or hear Robert Caruso sing about Mickey Mouse. We tiptoed past a few campers, like Charles or Mookie, who

had the words, “DO NOT WAKE” written next to their names on the whiteboard above the sink.

We apologized to those who shook their heads painfully and avoided the light of the phone, and I made sure their blankets were pulled up.

The “pads” are located in the back of the cabin, next to the other supplies. At the beginning of each summer, we are given extensive training on how to change an older camper. Gloves, pad, white sheet, baby wipes, orange spray, blue bag, black bag. Two people if necessary, and definitely for a wheel-chair camper. Clean well.

These instructions I knew, I felt them slam into my body every morning at a quarter to seven, I smelled them from across the room and I slipped over their existence for the past month and a half. I also spent months excited to learn about the process all over again.

“DO NOT WAKE” was written next to Chin’s name. I thought about how Chin is only allowed male counselors because he wants to marry all of the girls, about his old digital camera and his one fancy suit. I thought about the time he was upset with Freeman for throwing water on him, so we drank lemonade and sat in silence, until he asked to take my picture in front of the dining hall.

Next door by way of bunk-bed, I approached Cecil’s bed and watched him sleep. I grasped on to the realization that I suddenly had to completely disrupt this stillness and peace. The stinging chill of the concrete floor reminded me of the bed that waited for me to finish. Feeling his soft shoulder and the warm cotton of his white t-shirt, I briefly shook him awake. “Cecil my dear, your bed is wet,” I whispered. Blue bag, black bag, gloves, baby wipes. Not knowing what to expect and how he would react, I watched

Cecil roll over without any thought or hesitation, accompanied by the largest smile any human has ever known. He asked me what was up and I told him it was the middle of the night. He smiled and said, “So—what’s up?” with a voice that made me laugh out loud, and want to hug him. “Do you want me to help you into your chair?” He wanted to walk instead. “Okay, lean on me.”

There is a faint smell of urine that has seeped into the paint on the walls, the scent lingering while the lights are off. The tub of bleach from a few hours earlier is not able to combat the smell, and the air conditioning shoots through the cabin, as if acting like an additional disinfectant method for a summer drenched in chlorine and orange spray.

Somewhere on the edge of time, snuggled between chaos and complete stillness, I stood with Cecil in the shower. I felt the warm water breeze against my lethargic body and I listened to him speak, telling me he can do the moonwalk better than anyone, giving me specific instructions on which bus route will get him home to his mom, singing the lyrics to “Billie Jean,” and again, asking me, “so, what’s up?” His voice sounds like the discovery of everything for the first time. I asked him if he needed any help and he said he no, he was fine.

Javier and I finished checking each camper, and wrote everything down on the white board.

“See you in an hour.” I crawled into bed, set my alarm for 5 a.m., and everything felt right.

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CULTURE

W27

Oddity, Punk and Goth

All the Outcasts Come to Life

at All Hallows Circus

BY YAJIE NIU In March 2018, as I had just returned from a relaxing break to begin my struggle with the infamous AAS Exhibition design, a post of a digital illustration depicting two extravagant circus figures popped up on my Instagram feed. That was my first encounter with All Hallow Circus, a comic series created by my freshman year roommate, Jackie Gassler and her friend Taylor Bender.

Jackie and Taylor had always been planning a collaboration. In 2017, Taylor came up with the original idea of creating a story related to a travelling circus after attending her friend’s circus themed Murder Mystery Party. Jackie had mutual interest in circus elements. Not much later, All Hallows Circus came to life.

All Hallows Circus is about a teenager who runs away from home to join a traveling circus in order to escape responsibilities and expectations from society.

At first sight, the circus is fun, everyone is friendly to him and treats him as family. But the more time he spends with the circus, the more he realizes that things are much darker and more complicated than what they seem. “We are currently at issue four,” said Taylor. “This is when everything starts to turn dark and scandalous. He gradually explores the other side of the circus and discovers the dark secrets the circus is hiding. All Hallows Circus functions as a Utopia for people running away from reality, but instead, things eventually get worse.”

Though Taylor and Jackie have different illustration styles, they managed to make the comic turn out in harmony with an American Horror Story-ish aesthetic. “The inspiration didn’t just come from American Horror Story,” said Jackie. “I mean I keep up with AHS and popped in some elements from “Freak Show” to develop characters that fit the scheme, but I’m also inspired by other media, such as this book called Cirque Du Freak. Also, the song Dark Wood Circus; the first half of it is about spending a happy time at a circus, and the second half is about wanting to escape because everything started getting weird. Exactly the way our plot goes.”

“Some of our characters are inspired by people around us,” said Taylor, “For example, the character I created, Vanity, is inspired by one of my friends.

They both share an outgoing personality, both are optimistic, and both have pink hair. What’s funny is it wasn’t until I created Vanity that I realized she is so much like my friend, I guess it’s bits and pieces of personal experience that gets injected in my work.”

“Do you associate yourself with any character in All Hallows Circus?” I asked. She replied, “Calypso is based on the look I created for the Murder Mystery party, I had been pulling random stuff out of my closet and I made myself a crazy hairstyle. Then

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

21

Little Fires Everywhere​: A Birds Eye View of Diversity Taking Root Shaker Heights, Ohio is, by most measures, an idyllic, comfortable, and overall peaceful suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Beginning in 1912, this strip of land in Ohio became a carefully structured community, centered around rules abundant. A marvelous backdrop for a chaotic plotline, this town’s motto is: “Most communities just happen; the best are planned.” Celeste Ng, a childhood

ILLUSTRATION BY TAYLOR BENDER & JACK-

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when I was drawing Calypso I suddenly realized ‘Oh I’m actually drawing my look from the party!’

Basically, I created myself in the comic.” “I’d say I associate with Cyrus, the Shock Artist,” said Jackie, “He’s an alternative figure who swallows swords, I had practiced sword swallowing before but didn’t succeed; I dress him in clothes that I love but cannot afford. In words short, Cyrus is an ideal figure of myself, he’s who I see myself as.”

Most of the characters in All Hallows Circus are outcasts of society, or called by others, freaks. This has to do with both Jackie and Taylor’s love for alternative culture, which includes subcultures such as goth, punk and occult. “Most people view circuses as a Façade of happiness, where they could witness strange and unusual things and people; but in reality, those who are entertaining the audience are the same ones at the margin of society who are being bullied or laughed at by normal people because they look different, dress different or have different interests. It’s quite distressing. I got into alternative cultures in middle school, wasn’t sure if it was really my thing at first, I explored different subcultures within for a couple years until after high school, I started to project my own style.” Taylor said. As for Jackie, it was as early as 2004. “…we were going Trick or Treating that year, all the kids dressed as princesses or knights, but I appeared dressed as Corpse Bride with a full-face makeup and my parents were like what the hell.” Jackie said, “But I’m glad they respect the way I dress now. Tim Burton has always been a great influence in alternative culture, I love his movies. I gradually developed my own style, which involves a lot of black. There’s no precise reason to explain my love for it, all I can say is everything related to alternative culture makes me comfortable.”

I was interested to know their opinion on alternative culture finding popularity in the mainstream. Taylor was pretty cool about it, she claims: “To be honest I don’t care if you’re wearing a shirt with a band that you never listened to on it just because you think it looks cool, of course I’d appreciate if you seriously looked them up; I think it’s a good thing that some fast fashion brands are producing cheap garments inspired by alternative cultures, it gives teenagers who are into alternative culture accessibility to style themselves since a lot of boutiques which specialize in alternative clothing can be expensive. But I also want to say, if you’re Buying an alternative style just because it’s trending, don’t laugh at the ones who have been a member of the alternative community for years, the ones who actually carefully studied the history and done the research about alternative culture because they are deeply interested.”

Jackie gets more radical about this subject, “When I was younger, I got picked on a lot at school because

of the way I dressed. Usually when it comes to popularizing alternative styles, I can get very touchy. We went to see the Victoria’s Secret exhibit two years ago, that year there was a theme called punk angels.

When I saw the styled models what came to mind was, I had been dressing that way since ages ago, and I was laughed at, yet all of a sudden everyone is worshipping the way those VS models were styled.”

She pauses, then adds, “On the other hand there’s another extreme, the ones who strictly follow the rules and values subcultures develop and expect others to do the same. For example, a person who would say that Goths should never wear any other color than black, which is more like sticking to a stereotype about the subculture that normal people labeled them as. I mean, alternative culture formed because people were tired of the rules society imposed on them, tired of the stereotypes and labels that they wanted a utopia where they could freely express themselves, but ever since alternative culture started to become a trend, more rules had to be established within the subcultures which is absolutely opposite to the reason why they were first created.”

Coming to FIT, Jackie and Taylor experienced a freedom to express themselves as freely as they liked.

Since “Diversity” is one of FIT’s characteristics, there are more people at FIT that share the same interests. “I was in the typical kind of high school where everyone knew each other, if you didn’t go with the flow you wouldn’t be able to fit in. I felt scrutinized everywhere I went because of the way I dressed; I did have a group of friends who didn’t necessarily share the same interests, whenever I would start talking about something they didn’t know much about, at some point someone would say ‘Oh stop that’s enough’; but at FIT, people are more understanding, they are willing to listen, even if it’s something they don’t really understand.”

“I think it also has something to do with our major,” Jackie adds, “The illustration department is a tight knit community, most of us have known each other since Freshman year. It’s easy to meet new people who share the same interests as us within the department and it’s easy to bond with them. I hang out with people I see frequently; however I don’t have many friends in other majors and I’m not trying to expand my friend group at the moment.” I suddenly realized that what she mentioned is accurate: Jackie and I had been roommates for an entire year, we choose each other because of similar interests, but seldomly hung out due to the difference in our schedules; the people we met most frequently were the ones who take the same classes instead of each other. This can be a kind of road block for students at FIT, and it’s something we should be making an active effort to break through. I’m certainly glad I did by engaging in this conversation.

PHOTO COURTESY KAROLINE BUTTLER dweller of Shaker Heights herself, transplants the chaos that is “Little Fires Everywhere” into this unassuming town, and what we, as readers, receive, is ultimately a marvelous tale on the taking-root of diversity within a community.

The book opens with the conclusion: with a yet-to-be-known culture of characters viewing a neighborhood home burning due to one daughter’s apparent pushback against her family. A touch of arson and a spot of incredulity, Ng matter-of-factly pens, “​“Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.”​Simultaneously aghast and completely confused, our emotions mirror the characters as we watch this neighborhood home burn in the first few pages. Ng digresses.

Within pages, we are pulled from the tale’s end and transported to the beginning, when two individuals step foot into Shaker Heights for the first time.

The book follows a time in the life of the wanderlust, always moving single mother Mia Warren, and her daughter Pearl. For a mother-daughter-duo who have been consistently in transit, it is apparent that at the beginning of this book, both characters are looking for a place to lay down roots. The place they choose is a blanket of a town - Shaker Heights, Ohio - the first planned American environment where both harmony and sameness within community are prized. What is apparent to the reader is that both Mia and Pearl don’t operate within these ideals. Her arrival does, in fact, spark little fires within each micro-community of the town.

It is important to note that the book begins with a tunnel-visioned narrator.

From a single perspective, the reader receives all information in regards to Shaker, the Warrens, and the Richardsons from a place of singularity and bias, leading to a one-sided and one-dimensional view of the novel’s landscape.

BY BRITTANY EVANS

The “spark” that is most prevalently seen occurs initially within the Richardson family. The textbook definition of a picture-perfect family, the Richardson’s are an elevated name within the town’s makeup. The father is a lawyer, the mother a well-to-do townie, and the children are equally as impressive and notable. What should be noted, is within this impressivity the family blends into the status quo of Shaker, effortlessly. It all begins to change when Pearl befriends Moody Richardson.

This seemingly micro-movement of plot actually becomes the impetus for change, and the reader is moved from a place of sameness and mundanity to an everyday rhythm of chaos

and upheaval. As the characters come out of the woodwork and the scene begins to diversify, the reader is met with a beautiful dialogue on diversity within community.

The book develops and the story takes its shape and more voices are heard within the novel’s narrations. What was a single-voiced narrator, becomes a full cast of emotions, complexities, thought processes and dialogues: another reflection of the way the community has begun to diversify with the arrival of the Warrens.

When Mia and Pearl stumble into sleepy and withdrawn Shaker, they immerse themselves in the blandness of this singular small town in America. But the longer they stay there, the more each character becomes singular to themselves, each family becomes its own complex unit, each house becomes a vessel of individuality and the beautiful chaos of humanity. What begins as a tunnel-visioned narration of the going-ons within the town, evolves into a full-bodied cast, with individualized views on issues. In fact, when the town rallies to solve an issue that arises between two of the characters, the plot does elicit a cheer from the reader, as sameness evaporates and the diversity shines through.

While the novels plot-line centers around many different ideals, one that was blisteringly obvious to me throughout the course of the book was how a single mother-daughter-duo, living unashamedly as their own, stimulates positive and monumental change within a community as a whole. While the reader doesn’t get to see the macro-effects at book-end of this diversifying community, we see a change occur within one of the Richardson members at books end. This change ultimately leads to her pursuit of the bigger-and-better the world has to offer.

Little Fires Everywhere challenges previously held beliefs on diversity and community, and the way the two interact with one another, ultimately leading to an overwhelmingly vibrant and rich environment. It does, in fact, spark little fires everywhere into the character’s own ideals and we, the readers, by extension. This book is an important one. And I close with a simple call to action. Do read.

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CULTURE

How

W27

*For anybody that has not yet seen the movie or read the book Call Me

By Your Name, know that this article is rife with spoilers.*

Art :

An Interview with Filmmaker Steve Yeager

PHOTO COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

BY HANNAH KREBS

I

have always been fascinated by American films made in the 1970’s, particularly those containing experimental and exploitative material. Last year I interviewed the organizer of a Grindhouse film group on meetup.com for a class project. To learn more about the history of the niche genre and immerse myself in the dying culture, I attended some of the group’s events.

It occurred to me that my father worked with a man who made a Sundance-winning documentary about John Waters, one of the first directors to popularize amateur underground experimental film.

I interviewed Steve Yeager, director of Divine Trash (1998), to get a first-hand account of what it was like to grow up in a counterculture Baltimore with the now famous director who locals cherish for capturing the quirky charm of the city.

Having grown up in Baltimore, I am aware of the impact of John Waters’ films on the city’s culture. In fact, my high school put on a production of Hairspray and the week before the play, rumors spread around the school that John Waters’ himself was going to be attending. One of the most memorable exhibits I attended was one dedicated to John Waters’ photography and other controversial art at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA). My family and I went to the BMA on the last day of the exhibit and had to wait in a line that wrapped around the floor until staff let us and limited the number of people in. It was well worth standing in the endless line for this exhibit where visitors were given an audio recording of John Waters to guide them through the floor.

I first asked simply how he met John Waters.

“John and I more or less grew up together. I used to see John a lot because, well, he grew up in Lutherville and I grew up in Waverly, but we would meet in a beatnik coffee house downtown which is no longer there and the various places that the underground, you know, not mainstream, where artists would meet and I met John and we sort of hit it off right away, and I knew he was making these films, he made a couple of short films, and he asked me if I wanted to help out, and I said sure. …John and I stayed friendly and we started making these films, it was Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs and Pink Flamingos and I helped out in all of them, in fact, I did a lot of stills for one of them. John’s very good about credits, I still get a lot of credit for a lot of the stills.”

He then went on to explain how he came to make Divine Trash. “I was working at Maryland Public Health at the time that John was doing Pink Flamingos and I said to the staff there “my friend John Waters,” they had never heard of him, “is getting ready to do his third film, his first one in color, and I thought it’d be a great idea to document what he is doing and then we could show it on mpt, and they said “sure.” So, they let me use any of the equipment in those days.

Back in those days, it was ’69, the policy at Maryland Public Television was that you could just borrow the

equipment, sign out for it, it was amazing, like the best graduate school there was. So, I went out with another mpt worker, a sound man named Bill Porter, and him and I went out many times to document John making Pink Flamingos. It was really, it was all shot on film of course. The station, mpt never thought much about airing it, so since I paid for the footage, it was mine, I owned it, so I kept it for years, and finally a couple of friends of mine kind of shamed me and said, you know, “you’ve got all this footage of John making Pink Flamingos, it’s really important footage, you’ve ought to make a documentary, so finally I got off my ass and made a documentary. In those days, we all shot in film, so it was edited on a flatbed, film editing piece of technology.”

He also told me what it was like on set and the kinds of crazy things him and the rest of the cast and crew did while filming Pink Flamingos.

“One thing about John’s films with Divine is that he would always shoot in cold weather and that’s because Divine’s makeup would run and Div, Divy, was really a gentle person and hilarious to be around.

It was cold and we’re out there in the cold, the whole time and John didn’t provide food in those days. You know, it wasn’t a standard location shoot but nobody knew the difference, nobody cared, but at the time we were making Pink Flamingos, nobody ever thought that John would become this big, nobody ever thought that this crazy film, Pink Flamingos, would go on to become what it has become. If you’ve seen Pink Flamingos, you’ve seen the tar and feather scene, and as Mink [Mink Stole, actor in Pink Flamingos] said “It’s one thing to be tarred and feathered but being molassed and feathered,” and it was a hideous situation. I mean, what was interesting about the actors that worked with John, they would do anything, they were in for the deal and anything John wanted.

In the end of Pink Flamingos, Divine eats dog shit.

Somebody said to Divine in an interview, “why did he eat dog doo-doo?” and Divine’s answer was “It was in the script.” What was interesting was that John had these early calls at 7, 6 or 7 in the morning. He would go to sleep with makeup on, not take the makeup off because it took another hour and a half to apply.”

Next, I asked what Baltimore was like during this time, something that I’m always interested in hearing about.

“Baltimore, there was a real anti-establishment subculture in Baltimore at the time, and we were all part of the same culture, and this is when pot was becoming a big deal. So, the structure was there for experimentation, and not everyone was doing it, I mean, the only one who was doing films like John was John. There was other experimentation happening in film, in short film, at Towson and University of Baltimore, and also plays, like at Corner Theater, so there was a whole atmosphere of experimentation that existed then that doesn’t really exist now. Of course, too, it was the beginning of the whole drug culture starting with pot, I think John says in my film, you know, “Pink Flamingos was made on pot.” I was smoking pot, John was smoking pot, and in order to

call me by your name sequel:

OCTOBER 2019

23

Will Find Me Fill in All The Right Gaps?

Trash Became

FIT

get Divine to do the dog shit eating scene, Divine was smoking pot, so it was a more liberal atmosphere, it wasn’t as tight ass as it is now.”

My final question was: How does John Waters continue to influence filmmakers today?

“I’m sure there were other experimental filmmakers, but John was not just a filmmaker, John was a really brilliant guy, so he knew what he wanted, even back then, before Pink Flamingos, John knew what he wanted. He had his act together since he started reading Variety when he was twelve years old, how many people can say that. I think that there are probably some off-the-wall, independent films now that are like Pink Flamingos or have the same kind of emphasis, see, you would know better than me, I’m not really tied into that youth culture now, I mean we were all in our early 20’s when we did Pink Flamingos, so there’s gotta be someone out there making films that would be John Waters like, I just don’t know that I’m the one to ask about the current atmosphere for independent films. But there’s got to be, there’s gotta be. There’s gotta be a new Pink Flamingos out there somewhere, but it would be Pink Flamingos for the new millennium, and what will that be, I don’t know.

See, what John was exploring in Pink Flamingos is almost mainstream now, you know, the fact that he was a gay filmmaker, I mean “big deal” now right?

The whole culture has changed, so film like John’s wouldn’t be the same, wouldn’t have the same impact, but other counter culture films, there were a lot of independent horror films out at the same time, underground films, there’s no more underground film movement, I don’t think. And since there are no taboos now on anything made except for snuff films, there’s a lot more leeway to make films like John would do. When John made Flamingos it was so specific, it was so original, whereas now, it wouldn’t be, it would be copying John or trying to find your own niche.”

John Waters changed the way America viewed independent film, and allowed audiences and filmmakers to accept more taboo subject matter.

Directors like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino would not have emerged without John Waters’ trailblazing films. Films once considered trashy and tasteless, made on an extremely low budget, using untrained actors, are now regarded as edgy works of art.

No matter how many times I’ve read it, Andre Aciman’s novel, Call Me By Your Name, has always landed me in the same place: curled up around my weathered paperback copy, crying. And I’m not talking a couple of tears snaking down my face like a semi-leaky public bathroom faucet, I’m talking a full on fire-hydranthas-been-wrenched-open-on-a-hotsummer-day kind of deal. Aciman’s words have never failed to conjure the kinds of emotion I always loathe to admit are still buried inside of me; feelings I much rather would have preferred leaving behind along with the rest of the hot mess that being a teenager was. But at the same time that I’m scolding myself for apparently still being hung up on certain things, I secretly love the fact that that person I used to be is still alive and ready to connect with the world. And when I say ‘world,’ I really mean Elio and Oliver’s world.

Set in 1983 in a small town “somewhere in Northern Italy,” CMBYN is told from the first-person perspective of Elio Perlman - a 17 year old boy whose main summer activities are transcribing music, reading and biking to said local small town. We learn that this is his family’s annual routine: once school lets out for Elio and his father Samuel, a university professor, the family picks up and heads to their Italian villa on the coast. The months that ensue are filled with breakfasts of freshly made apricot juice (from the family orchards, no less) and soft-boiled eggs, hazy, lazy afternoons lounging around the pool, and evenings of home-cooked dinners prepared by the family’s housekeeper, Mafalda. Regardless of the tumultuous, passionate relationship the novel is defined by, the overall tone of the story is constantly being grounded by the peace of its romantic, European setting.

Aside from the Perlman family of three, a fourth person is welcomed into the villa every year - a new graduate student chosen the previous summer to help Elio’s father with academic paperwork.

Enter Oliver, a 24 year old postdoctorate teaching at Colombia who is with the family not only to help Samuel, but to also revise his manuscript on the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. What ensues is a coming-of-age love story and sexual awakening that has sold nearly three quarter of a million books and spawned a gorgeous

Academy Award-winning film adaptation starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.

It actually isn’t until well into the story that the two boys get together - the beginning of the novel is spent listening to Elio trying to decide whether or not Oliver actually likes him or if he’s just tolerating him because he’s the professor’s son. Ultimately, it is a bold move on Elio’s part that allows them to both finally admit their feelings for each other. The end of that summer of 1983, however, signals the slow but predictable deterioration of their relationship; Oliver returns to New York for the new school year and Elio back to his family to resume a “normal” teenage life. The following winter, when the Perlmans return to the villa for the holidays, they receive a call from Oliver informing them that he is engaged to be married to an old flame that coming summer.

“Andre Aciman’s words have never failed to conjure the kinds of emotion I always loathe to admit are still buried inside of me.”

Leaving Elio completely heartbroken, this is where the novel grazes over a fifteen year gap of the two men not seeing each other until a spontaneous encounter that leaves them rehashing their past. Fast forward twenty more years without having seen each other and Oliver is back at the villa visiting Elio for a night on his way to Rome. By this time, Elio’s father has passed away, Oliver’s two sons are the ages that the boys were when the novel first started, a lifetime has passed. It’s within these lengthy gaps that CMBYN’s sequel Find Me, coming out October 29th, will find its footing. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, the publishing company Aciman has partnered with, released a brief synopsis revealing that the plot will be going back in time before Elio’s father’s death, focusing on Elio’s time living in Paris as a classical pianist and Oliver’s teaching career in the US. So, hopefully, this sequel will not only fill in all the missing time we as readers were not able to experience, but also cause me to cry just as hard as the first part. ■

photography & writing by lara de la torre

FIT

OCTOBER 2019

Earn up to 4 credits in 3 weeks.

Welcome to an Unconventional Winter Break at FIT.

Registration Opens October 31

Winter Session January 2-17, 2020

fitnyc.edu/winter

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