slow

s l ow

s l ow Lisa Ha

Copyright © 2021 Lisa Ha All rights reserved.

First Edition, 2021 Published on issuu.com

For you, the reader.

prelude Hello! I am creating this book as part of an independent study with Professor Samer Fouad where I am exploring what decolonizing design means and connecting it to my other studies such as gender, sexuality and race studies and theories.

I’ve been thinking a lot about time and how it is experienced, but also how time is used to use people.

This book will be exploring themes of time, love, work and design through a lens of what I learned about on decolonizing design.

I hope you find what you are seeking for, whether that be in this book, in yourself or somewhere else.

lisa

tu cho me

We are catching up on missed I love yous, what did you make for dinners, and timehidden behind I’m too busy’s and I’ll call you laters.

For all the planning ahead of time I’ve done, I’ve missed so much time.

For all the securing the future you’ve done, you’ve missed so much time.

10

Time in dreams is nothing like time in a physical waking state. There is no chronological concept of it as it is felt in the now and especially in the now through the lens of the future. I wished we had the overlapping of time to eat together as a family like other families.

I’ve been thinking about the way you see and experience time and how it differs from mine.

Even with all your work, yet you still save time to eat, to “enjoy” slow in a world of fast.

con sa

11

who am i 2 letters times 2 times is 4 times it is said to her, just a syllable that sounds like a beginning and wants to be an end but yet there is no more than 2 letters, and definitely not 4 4 times for emphasis completing the name is just common sense but what if “h” plus “a” doesn’t want to become laughter or an onomatopoeia for just 2 letters keeps the writer waiting for more, as if there are 4 letters instead of only two of hers, a multiplicity, reduced to numbers

12

I

am

a

mult iplic it y

bu t

n ot

of

n u m be rs

bu t

n ot

of

n u m be rs

''

I a m a m ult i pl i ci t y b u t n ot of num be rs

I

am

a

mult iplic it y

13

where 14

am

ereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiw hereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereami whereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwheream iwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwherea miwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhere amiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwher eamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhe reamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwh ereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiw hereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereami whereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwheream iwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwherea miwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhere amiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwher eamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhe reamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwh ereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiw hereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereami whereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwheream iwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwherea miwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhere amiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwher eamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhe reamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwh ereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiw hereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereami whereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwheream iwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwherea m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e r e a m i w h e15r e amiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwhereamiwher

01

nha

generations It feels like me, Me, and Ba Nguoi are alone because our family is in Viet Nam and we aren’t there anymore. But also it helps to know that we, I, are not really alone. In the sense that I am standing on the shoulders of my history, including my ancestors and everyone working towards justice and liberation.

Individualism puts pressure on people to achieve a lot of work, alone, but this is not the best thing. I feel like that I don’t care as much about myself because I see myself as an individual, an island, which is a very westernized worldview but I don’t realize that how much I care or don’t care for myself also affects the communities and relationships that I am in.

18

19

community 20

Even with all the jobs and responsibilities, you still leave time to eat. Slowly, taking in the flavors, and not choking on the running out of times like I do.

Cleanliness is really important and I never understood.

The starting over and new beginnings, leaving stained memories behind even if the histories will continue to draw breath in our bodies. When I visited Vietnam recently, I felt a concept of time that was not as rigid as in the U.S. Not that people didn’t work, but to me it seemed that being was revolved around family and community than time and work.

21

22

joys passed

down

1. Acts of service as the primary love language 2. Putting time and care into preparing food 3. Cleaniless in taking care of the spaces that we live 4. Gratefulness in having choices and opportunities 5. Trust in friendships 6. Pursuit and “hustle” of The American Dream

23

02

home

what is an american?

minor feelings In Hong’s book Minor Feelings, she talks about her experiences as an Asian American woman pursuing an art education. She discusses how society recognizes artists’ transgressions as art but this is dependent on their access to power. For example, the concept of “bad boy artists” who have thought about their legacy already from a young age or are able to have their art called as art while many female artists continue to go under-recognized after death. Hong’s friends, Erin and Helen, were both unapologetic and ambitious in their art making. As artists who are women of color, Erin felt that there was no possibility in making it as an artist while having her private life being exposed to the public. This feeds into the privacy and silence of racism against Asian communities where they will continue to be idealized by others as “model minorities”.

Reading about Hong’s experience in college art education makes me think about what I want my college experience to be and how I want to be an artist here and afterwards.

I don’t think I hear about powerful friendships between women of color very often so I think this was good to read and I think I would like to read more.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

''

I l legib ilit y is a p o l i t ica l act .

ways of seeing I think that the author is right when they say that to mystify the past, this makes those people unable to see themselves in their history and thus render them less able to be “active agents” in their present. A privileged minority controlling art, thus controlling history, gets to shape it to make themselves the justified and the winners. I found that for myself growing up, I had thought I was white until I realized I wasn’t with how my peers and teachers were different towards me. I think being unable to see diversity in media, books, and stories rendered me less able/unable to be proud of my heritage, idealized whiteness and thought I was white myself (currently I am still grappling with what to do with my proximity to whiteness as an Asian person). At some points, I was ashamed and embarrassed to be Asian and wanted to prove how worthy I was by buying into the model minority myth and trying to embody it. Now I realize how important my family’s heritage is and I want to know more about my family’s history. But I think I definitely saw whiteness and tried to get closer to it by assimilating before I even knew there were words for what my experiences are. I think sometimes having words for something also shows you're not alone in an experience.

There is definitely a connection between privilege/class and who owns art, who gets to see art museums and who gets to “appreciate” art. It saddens me that my mom wants to have new experiences but there isn't that same access or money or time or knowledge. If images outlast what they represent it goes to show how important art is to the preservation of historys and thus stories. Who gets a voice and the agency in telling their stories?

Ways of Seeing by John Berger

design libera

n as ation

03

decolonizing design Design is all around us and for sure influences our perception, how the world unfolds from our eyes/position, but because it is always there, I never thought about the power of design for systematic change/ cultural change. Design is so very political and it can never be neutral (what we consider neutral design is very anglocentric, eurocentruc, white and heteronormative)

REST. it is okay to just stop, even though a disruption in your schedule can feel like holding onto everything and then letting it all fall- this disruption is really a disruption in a white supremacist, capitalist, productive and heteropatriarchal society. but, rest, not to produce more or to ready yourself for more work, but to simply rest. self care, compassion and love is community care.

in order to self care is not the shallow kind you see in media- it is the space you allow yourself for healing, grief and love. self care runs deep, self care includes learning about generational trauma, unpacking what being means in a society like this, everything, but also simply nothing. self care can mean to find your voice when silenced and to learn more about what is not taugh in schools. from your body to you, rest.

The Nap Ministry

from your body to you

self care doodling I am also important to my loved ones and others, but not simply as a cog in the machine that is work and productivity. I, and everyone else as well, am important because I be and am, in complexity and community with others.

Perhaps to starting to showing my appreciation to my mom, I need to take of myself first like she’s been saying all along before having the capacity to give to others.

I am not alone but like Loretta Ross said in a webinar on reproductive justice, everyone needs to be the strongest link they can beit’s not about solving all the problems in one generation as it is a multi-generational pursuit and goal over time to make real, systematic change, reformation and reimagining. Taking care of the self for the sake of self truly is radical under a system of work and power.

Reproductive Justice webinar, Loretta Ross

to whom it may concern, I feel erased not by the amount of white people in the room. It is the content that we push for and the "prepping" of getting a comms or design job afterwards which then feeds into the work system, capitalism and straight time. What erases me is baked into the very structures that is both invisible and yet affects so much. The corporate hierarchies, the what is considered professional grade and good design, the centering of white histories regardless of mission statements that brag of diversity and inclusion. But the problem is much bigger than me not feeling belonging in these spaces, it is upholding the norm. The norm (white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, etc.) is dangerous because it is invisible and the “default”.

We get special topics classes on art history from other cultures but never as what we build our art foundations on.

Design is apart of all of our lives, and it is also a tool in the process of eliminating all indigenous people who cared for the land before European “settlers” colonized and created mass genocide. A “neutral” design is used as part of the mission to erase indiginous people by not including, centering them in foundational design or part of the conversation. But only that, it shouldn't simply be part of the conversation. To really decolonize things is something I’m still trying to learn, as a settler myself, but so far I think it means to not only decolonize but to indigienize and to use design on the mission to give back the land (which then disrupts systems of wealth and power).

'' The stranger has

a place by being ‘out of place’ at home.

Sara Ahmed, Affective Economies

i

am

home.

final thoughts Thank you for coming along for this journey! Feel free to continue your learning by checking out the resources on the next page.

Until the next time!

for more info Ways of Seeing John Berger

There is No Such Thing As Neutral Graphic Design AIGA

Minor Feelings Cathy Park Hong

The Agency Scope of Work is Reimagining the Talent Pipeline for Creatives of Color AIGA

Art and Identity in British North American Colonies D Jaffee Postcolonial 8 artists addressing empire colonial histories Chloe Austin Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor Tuck and Yang The Fifth Wave Mary Retta Findings Project Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya Abolition of Work Bob Black

How Diverse Representations of Old Age Can Shift Our Perspective on Aging AIGA “Where Are All the Black Designers?” A Roundtable Discussion Author Black Designers: Forward in Action (Part I) Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller Cyborg Manifesto Donna J. Haraway I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance Rachel Alicia Griffin

Cyberpunk Manifesto Christian As. Kirtchev What We Experience Mag What We Experience Slow factory Many authors Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Nonbinary, Field Guide for Graphic Designers Many authors

Copyright © 2021 Lisa Ha All rights reserved.

First Edition, 2021