VOLUME 12
THE POTENTIAL ISSUE
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INK MAGAZINE IS PRODUCED AT THE VCU STUDENT MEDIA CENTER. 817 W. BROAD ST. P.O. BOX 842010 RICHMOND, VA, 23284 PHONE: (804)828-1058 INK MAGAZINE IS A STUDENT PUBLICATION, PUBLISHED ANNUALLY WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE STUDENT MEDIA CENTER. TO ADVISE WITH INK, PLEASE CONTACT OUR ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES AT ADVERTISING@VCUSTUDENTMEDIA.COM MATERIAL IN THIS PUBLICATION MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE VCU STUDENT MEDIA CENTER. ALL CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY VCU STUDENT MEDIA CENTER, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED LOCALLY Website: INKMAGAZINE.COM Email: INKMAGAZINE.VCU@GMAIL.COM Instagram: @INK_MAGAZINE Facebook: FACEBOOK.COM/VCU.INK Youtube: INK MAGAZINE VCU Twitter: @INKMAGAZINE
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Letter from the Editor
This print issue of Ink Magazine is the product of the tenacity and creativity of an incredible staff whom I thank for their patience and dedication. This year has been unusual to say the least. In the fall 2019 semester, we underwent a shift as I became editor-in-chief in November. Soon after accepting the position, I found out that our publication has a long and mostly forgotten history. Our first incarnation, Reflections in Ink, was VCU’s black student publication established in 1978. From 1994-2008, we operated as the Vine. Reviewing the full archive of Reflections in Ink (1978-94), which became the Vine (1994-2008), and then Ink Magazine (2008-), I saw a complicated portrait of VCU, a story of cultural shifts, and at times, one of erasure. We have embraced our history and now recognize our full potential. We have been and can be many things.
As I’m writing this in 2020, it is an election year and most of the world is inside, trying to curb the spread of COVID-19. Potential is an abstract idea that contains within it many futures. While the world is ever-changing and the future hidden under a veil, we can always look within, and at the past. We may assess our personal growth, push against the status quo, and we may ask ourselves what we want. In this issue, we do that and more. Enjoy!
Cole Clark EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Masthead
DEPUTY EDITOR
Kylie Newcomb WEB EDITOR
Aamina Palmer COPY EDITOR
India Espy-Jones CONTENT EDITOR
Ross Atkinson EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
S. Alex Jenkins
CONTRIBUTORS
MiJin Cho Archerd Aparejo Nico Gavino Jess Som Luke Campbell Nico Felsenheld Mac Woolley Piper Lynch Hope Ollivant Claire Busby Amber Carpenter Rebecca Renton David Ignacio Julia Sachs
LAYOUT DESIGN
Jeffrey Pohanka Rey Carlson COVER
Kylie Newcomb BACK COVER
David Ignacio STUDENT MEDIA DIRECTOR
Allison Bennett Dyche SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Dominique Lee BUSINESS MANAGER
Owen Martin
CREATIVE MEDIA MANAGER
Mark Jeffries
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Contents Kababayan: How Filipinx Creatives are Reimagining The Future of their Culture page 01
Meet Daisyworld page 11
The Road
page 17
Objective Extrospection
page 21
Nocturne, Out of the Dark, Through the Dark, and In Dreams of the Wood page 31 4 INK_2020.indd 4
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Redline: page 43 Tracing Richmond’s Creative Dilemma page 53
Rumors of War
My Father as Poseidon
page 65
George Carlin and the Selfishness of Environmentalism page 67
Repurpose page 71
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FROM LEFT: FRANCIS CALMA, GABRIELLA MOZO (OF SARI-SARI STUDIO), JAN VINCENT GONZALES, PEDRO VIDALLON, MARIELLE SALES, AND IVY OCAMPO (OF MAAARI) PHOTO BY ALEX REVINA
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KABABAYAN
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Written by Nico Gavino
How Filipinx creatives are reimagining the future of their culture INK_2020.indd 2
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What initially began as a closet sale organized by close friends has now evolved into a creative collective with a focus on connecting Filipinx-American creatives through artistic collaborations and events.
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ucked in a high-rise in the Financial District of Manhattan, Kababayan, a Filipinx designer showcase and pop-up market begins their weekend-long launch event with a karaoke party. The nearby bar top is covered with boxes stacked full of mini bibingka, a sticky Filipinx rice cake made from scratch by Bibingka Mama, a New York based Filipinx drag queen. In a tin cooler full of ice, cans of sparkling wine and CBD infused tea are mixed in with bottles of San Miguel, the beer of choice in the Philippines. A paper sign taped to the counter reads “Food and drinks not allowed inside” in Tagalog, the most widely spoken dialect in the Philippines. I entered the main party room where Jan Vincent “JV” Gonzales, greeted me
with a warm hug. Gonzales organized Kababayan in partnership with 2 other Filipinx creative collectives named Sari Sari Studio and a Filpinx jewelry brand, Limnia. I told him that I came up from Virginia just for Kababayan. He gasped, “Really?” This reaction was recurrent as I met other members of New York’s Filipinx creative community, or as Gonzales refers to it pamilya, “family” in Tagalog. People began to fill in the party room and passed a white board around for people to sign up for karaoke (a popular bonding activity in the Philippines). Song choices ranged from late 90’s pop, early 2000’s R&B anthems, current top 40 hits, and OPM (Original Pilipino Music).
Gonzales and his friends naturally switched between Tagalog and English while talking to each other. Someone I met that night asked if I spoke Tagalog, and I answered that I could understand it at best, to which they replied “It’s because they wanted the best for you.” In many ways the launch party felt like a little Philippines in Manhattan and a little Manhattan in the Philippines. After all, Gonzalez explained to me that kababayan translates as “fellow countrymen.” To him, kababayan is a word that evokes the sense of community and extended family in the Philippines. “Living in the United States, there is such a drastic difference between Western and Eastern cultures. Western culture is more about
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INK individualism, whereas Eastern culture is more about community.” With Kababayan, Gonzales wanted to share that sense of community and family with the world. He is the founder of his own independent agency that represents Filipinx brands (including Carl Jan Cruz, Maaari, Josanna, and Tropical Futures Institute) based in the Philippines or run by Filipinx-American founders in the States.
designer, Carl Jan Cruz and Limnia and the second day featured Maaari, Josanna, Tropical Futures Institute, and Sari Sari Studio. Each of the brands had a corner of shop dedicated to showcasing and selling their work. “I take it everywhere” Marielle Sales of Sari Sari Studio says, referring to
Gonzales’ mission is to help foster Filipinx creativity as new generations of Filipinx kids are growing up and seeking new outlets to explore their identities. “Globally our community has the highest amount of export in terms of labor. Within our culture through movies and TV you always see stories of Filipinxs going abroad to make more money.” In Gonzales’s experience, he has been disheartened by seeing family members and other Filipinx friends reduce their potential to peripheral roles, unable to consider the possibility of pursuing alternate career paths. “We always look for stability in the things that are the safest way possible to THE KABABAYAN KARAOKE LAUNCH PARTY make sure that we are PHOTOS BY MARIELA GAVINO able to provide for our family. Creative fields were never really an empty SPAM can containing a mini something that we ever shot for.” Philippine flag. She has put together their usual pop-up set-up with Sari The Kabayan pop-up market took place Sari branded stickers, totes, and tees the following two days after the launch sprawled across the table, as well as party in a space in the Nolita neigh- zines curated for each of their events. borhood of Manhattan. The first day The name sari sari comes from the Philof the pop-up market was dedicated lippine equivalent of a bodega or conveto the work of Manila based apparel nience store. In the Philippines, sari sari
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stores sell everything from single-use shampoo packets, instant coffee, and mobile data for your smartphone. You can’t walk more than a city block in any city without seeing at least two. Sari Sari Studio was founded by Sales and her two friends, Gabriella Mozo and Mal Tayag. What initially began as a closet sale organized by close friends has now evolved into a creative collective with a focus on connecting Filipinx-American creatives through collaborations and events. “It seemed like a community that was missing in the diaspora” Sales says. After building the Sari Sari brand with their first pop-up shop, the friends realized that they were filling a void in their community. “I think it just sparked our curiosity to learn more about our culture and embrace what it means to be Filipinx-American. We were just calling it Sari Sari because we were all Filipinx, but then we were like ‘What could this become?’ So from there, we just kept growing, and with each event that we did we explored a different theme of our culture from food to art. We’re all creative so we wanted to give more visibility and representation to that.” “I feel like for me, as a photographer, I was not seeing Filipinxs being represented so I took it upon myself to do projects that showcase our people, talent, and designers.” Hearing that Sales has felt underrepresented in her field reminded me of the ways I’ve experienced this first hand. When I first started college, I felt discouraged by not seeing anybody like me in my field. It took meeting a
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INK Filipinx-American fashion merchandising professor to realize that I should stay in my major. Something that I realized quickly when talking to other Filipinxs at Kababayan was that a vast majority of us felt a lack of proper visibility in the creative world. In a macro sense, the actual cultural presence Filipinxs hold in America is highly disproportionate to their population. According to Pew Research, Filipinx-Americans are the fourth largest immigrant population in the U.S. and the third largest of Asian American immigrant populations, coming in behind Chinese Americans and Indian Americans. Despite this, Filipinxs are in many ways forgotten.
is a clear gap in mainstream American culture where Filipinxs should reside. The erasure of Filipinx culture goes back centuries from the arrival of the Spaniards who first colonized the Philippines in the 1500s and continues into the American colonial period which spanned 50 years following their acquisition of the Philippines from Spain in 1899. Since the beginning of Western colonization, inferiorization of things associated with indigenous Filipinx culture has taken place alongside ongoing assimilation of Filipinx people into the cultures of their colonizers. Aspects of culture that came from the indigenous Filipinxs were deemed undesirable and uncivilized in efforts to subjugate and
real problem in many colonized populations, including Filipinxs (I recommend Brown Skin White Minds by E.J.R. David if you are interested in the subject of Filipinx postcolonial psychology). Colonial mentality is often manifested in the tendency for Filipinx-Americans to assimilate with other cultures and prevalence of Eurocentrism. The centuries of colonial oppression have resulted in the lack of cultural and social presence and lack of cultural pride and unity seen in contemporary Filipinxs. “I always knew there were Filipinxs, especially growing up here on the East Coast in New Jersey. I was always surrounded by them, but I never
The centuries of colonial oppression have resulted in the lack of cultural and social presence and lack of cultural pride and unity seen in contemporary Filipinxs. Popular films featuring stories about people of Chinese and Indian descent penetrate the American box office such as Crazy Rich Asians and Slumdog Millionaire. Large Netflix productions such as Always Be My Maybe and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before feature Korean American and Vietnamese American leads and delve into aspects of their cultural experiences. Despite the current surge in Asian representation in Film and TV, Filipinxs remain largely absent and even overshadowed by smaller Asian American populations. Additionally, Japanese, Korean, and Indian media and music are highly popular in the U.S. while popular Filipinx media largely remains within the Philippines. There
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control under Spanish and American colonization. In addition to the colonial oppression of Filipinxs, oppression has also been prevalent in the form of racism and xenophobia against Filipinx immigrants in Western countries. In 2020, the oppression of Filipinxs is present through a common psychological concept often referred to as colonial mentality, ingrained in the collective psyche of Filipinxs and passed down generationally. Colonial mentality is essentially the belief that characteristics of the colonizer are superior, while the characteristics of the colonized are inferior. Studies in the psychological field show that colonial mentality is a
had a core group of Filipinxs growing up besides my family. I had no one to really talk about what it means to be Filipinx-American. I always had to assimilate and fit in with other groups. I feel like there were communities within the church and with family, but there was nothing where you could just be there and be yourself.” When you examine cultural preferences and habits in the Philippines you will see just how prevalent colonial mentality really is. Skin whitening clinics are very common in the Philippines and skin whitening products are sold in most cosmetic stores and are popular among Filipinxs. Watching Philippine
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television you will find that most actors have lighter skin and more European features than the average Filipinx, as being mestizo or mixed race is considered more desirable to many. Filipinx students are required to speak English in school from elementary to university level education as English is seen as the language of status and intellect. American products, brands, and media are seen as of higher quality and value than that of the Philippines. Leaving the Philippines, especially immigrating to America is an aspiration to many Filipinx nationals and is largely considered as “making it.” Many of these ideas infiltrated the diaspora of Filipinxs and their children across the globe. Understanding the complex history of colonization in the Philippines and its effects makes the cultural absence of Filipinxs much clearer and highlights how crucial the work of Filipinx creatives is. The creatives involved in Kababayan are challenging the historical oppression of Filipinxs and the long enforced notions that many Filipinxs have internalized. Gonzales tells me “The work that I’m doing and the designers that I represent, I want to be beacons of light for younger Filipinx-Americans. That’s who I want it to be for because of the fact that we are essentially an identity crisis.” In addition to the healing of Filipinx colonial mentality internationally, the growth of the Filipinx creative community has connected many creatives both within U.S. to those in the Philippines. Annette Spillane of Limnia jewelry left the Philippines 15 years ago to pursue a career as a CPA which she did for 12 years. Spillane said that after many years of assimilating into American culture she yearned to connect back to her Filipinx heritage which prompted her relationships to other Filipinx designers like Manila based, Carl Jan Cruz. When asked what is most exciting about seeing the community grow, Marielle Sales of Sari Sari said “We’re creating our own identity. It’s great because I’m also connecting with Filipinxs from the Philippines and I feel like we’re bridging the gap and find a common ground. It’s
been so great to have what feels like a family with everyone supporting each other. And because of this we feel like we can accomplish anything.” Each brand featured at Kababayan is in one way or another shaped by their Filipinx heritage. Sari Sari Studio explores Filipinx heritage through curated community events in NYC. Limnia, a jewelry line founded by Filipinx entrepreneur Annette Spillane, employs Filipinx goldsmiths and artisans in partnership with a Philippine non-profit aimed at eradicating poverty in the country. Carl Jan Cruz’s self described “contemporary Filipinx design brand” takes an autobiographical approach to design with his upbringing in the Philippines at its heart. MAAARI’s modern approach to jewelry and homeware is simultaneous-
I was not seeing Filipinxs being represented so I took it upon myself to do projects that showcase our people, talent, and designers. ly rooted in tradition with its inspiration and incorporation of indigenous Filipinx culture. Tropical Futures Institute, based in Cebu, Philippines uses their profits to fund their programming in New York, the Philippines, and across Southeast Asia. Their cultural programming consists of art exhibitions, zine fests, parties, community shows, workshops, and talks. Josanna, based in Marikina, Philippines is a shoe brand dedicated to reviving and paying homage to the shoemaking heritage of Marikina. A common thread among many of these brands is that they have chosen to source their materials and labor in the Philippines with ethical practice and community in mind. One of the forces driving Gonzales’s efforts to champion the work of
Filipinx creatives is the desire to dispel colonial mentality by showing Filipinxs both in the U.S. and in the Philippines that their work has value to the world. “Pushing forth this Filipinx agenda in the United States and Filipinxs seeing it flourish and thrive is really good for the whole colonial mentality that we’re dealing with here and the Philippines”, Gonzales says. “In the Philippines and a lot of Asian countries they are striving to be more Westernized. If we push forth Filipinx designers and show that it does well in the United States, then those in the Philippines themselves can say, ‘Oh, you know what, yeah, this is all over New York’. It kind of ties everything together.” The work of these Filipinx creatives proposes a future that values the creative talent and cultural output of Filipinxs. As a Filipinx American pursuing a fashion career myself, I had been following some of the brands for some time before learning about Kababayan. Initially, I came with the mission to educate our readers to the growing Filipinx creative community in New York City, but left knowing that there was so much more to unpack. What in me was longing for a new experience in my culture? Why did I have to travel to New York from Virginia to find a strong Filipinx creative community? Why was Kababayan important? I realized that all of the nods to Filipinx culture and experiences seen in the work of the designers at Kababayan give Filipinx Americans something to connect to, which we don’t have a lot of in America. By uplifting the work of Filipinx creatives and fostering the growth of Filipinx culture, events like Kababayan answer the longing of an oppressed people to get back what has been lost through the legacy of colonization. Not only does it give Filipinx Americans something to connect to, but it can also connect them to one another, reigniting kapwa, the spirit of community and oneness ingrained in Filipinx culture. Throughout history, art has played the
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FILIPINX KARAOKE THEMED T-SHIRT BY TROPICAL FUTURES INSTITUTE AT THE KABABAYAN POP-UP MARKET PHOTO BY MARIELA GAVINO
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MARIELLE SALES PHOTO BY MARIELA GAVINO
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BY UPLIFTING THE WORK OF FILIPINX CREATIVES AND FOSTERING THE GROWTH OF FILIPINX CULTURE, EVENTS LIKE KABABAYAN ANSWER THE LONGING OF AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE TO GET BACK WHAT HAS BEEN LOST THROUGH THE LEGACY OF COLONIZATION.
important role of allowing societies to face their pasts, reflect on their present, and reimagine their future. By fostering creativity and cultural growth in their communities, oppressed groups have unleashed potential for better futures. In the very same way, exploring Filipinx culture through creativity allows contemporary Filipinxs to address the collective history, emotions, and experiences they share. By sharing our stories, Filipinxs and other communities can find commonalities in the pain, loss, and
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confusion struggling against the legacy of colonialism. While recognizing the ugly parts of our history are crucial, the work of these creatives proudly push us into the future while showing the beauty in our culture and traditions. On a Greyhound bus headed back to Virginia, I watched the sunset as the New York City skyline shrunk out of my sight. I began to feel sad to be leaving all of the new people I met, but more so, I was overwhelmingly inspired
by them to continue the path I am on. I left with something to connect to that I didn’t have before. I left with a new community of people like me, doing things I’ve dreamed of doing, who welcomed me into their space like family. What I’ve come to realize is that what I left with is the spirit of what Kababayan is. The word’s very essence is found in the unity that communities can find in their common heritage.
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DAISYWORLD
[DEY-ZEE WURLD] NOUN.
A HYPOTHETICAL MODEL PLANET COVERED WITH ONLY TWO SPECIES OF ORGANISMS: BLACK AND WHITE DAISIES.
——— Written by MiJin Cho
artwork by archerd aparejo
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n 1983, geosystems researchers Andrew J. Watson and James E. Locklove gave us Daisyworld — a computerized planet filled with black and white daisies. Using the mixture of the two daisies, Daisyworld self-regulated and modulated its planetary temperature. If the planet dropped below the optimal temperature, the black daisies would warm up the planet by lowering the daisy albedo, while the white daisies acted on the contrary: cooling the planet, increasing the albedo, and eventually restoring the temperature to the optimal 22.5 degrees Celsius. As the two types grew into a higher solar luminosity, the white daisy population became governed by a parabolic growth function in relation to increasing planetary temperature, exhibiting a stable negative feedback (below optimum) to an unstable positive feedback (above optimum) loop. The model, in essence, explored the implications of a steadily increasing solar luminosity on growth of daisies and planetary temperature. Daisyworld tells us a very simple fact about our own planet; while Earth’s innate regulatory features prompt an evolutionary history of survival and optimization, Earth has a capacity at which temperature regulation moves beyond the planet’s capacity, and as a
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result, the inside organisms — daisies — die out rapidly. Daisyworld’s ever-increasing planetary temperature, then, becomes Earth’s problem, packaged into the universal terms “global warming” and “global climate change.” Global climate change, defined by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], refers to a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system, often correlated to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide from the mid-to-late 20th century onwards.
EARTH HAS A CAPACITY AT WHICH TEMPERATURE REGULATION MOVES BEYOND THE PLANET’S CAPACITY First-year VCU student Hannah Torma elaborates further on the issue, emphasizing on climate change’s immensity and intangibility. Torma has been affiliated with environmental advocacy from a young age, with the influence of a parent specializing in food waste and transportation at the Environmental Protection Agency. She claims an insider perspective on legislation and politics regarding sustainability and environmental conservation.
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INK “It’s so hard for people to wrap their head around the idea of climate change,” Torma said. “Most environmental concerns are massive, multifaceted, and closely interrelated. Growing up, I became more and more aware of how massive, how incomprehensible the problem of climate change was. I tried to do my part in little ways: I reduce my plastic consumption, I went pescatarian, I walk as often as possible. I know that it’s nothing, and won’t make a difference, but I still do it.” Studies grasping the concept of climate change reveals a duality of thought. One is scientific, while the other is sociopolitical.
of an invasive species, Gypsy moths. Since her time at VCU, Grayson has turned to another model organisms, Red-backed salamanders, in order to relate environmental conditions and the preservation of salamander species in the East Coast. “When I think of environmental conditions, I naturally think of temperature,” Grayson said. “Solar radiation, the season of the year, Earth’s orbital, Earth’s tilt, and the amount of certain compounds, like carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, in the atmosphere all affect the resulting temperature on Earth. The feedback from the temperature increases is then involved in cascading effects on things like sea surface temperature, biological events like when organisms hatch, intensity of storms, seasonal patterns, sea level rises, ice cap melting, and so on. It’s over-
ence between now and the rest of human history is we understand what’s going on right now so we can anticipate.” With that anticipation, Agosta brings into the argument the political and, often controversial perspective of climate change by presenting the question: how do the role of humans fit into the picture of feedback loops and geological disturbances? Much of the science has diverged into multidisciplinary fields of study, the sociopolitical question also diverges into sub-inquiries of what, when, where, how, and who.
“One of the things that’s come up with climate change is that we think we’re in a period of very rapid intense climate change, possibly driven by us. When people talk about existential threats of climate change, Science fortifies disciplines of ecology, they are also talking about our way of life: geology, biochemistry, and environthe technological human. It’s our cell mental inquiry. The last 650,000 years phones, electricity, food encompassed seven cycles of glaciation, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT EXISTENTIAL system, cities, and the each exhibiting Earth’s THREATS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, THEY ARE computerized world. It’s really our modernized ability to adapt to severe changes. With the ALSO TALKING ABOUT OUR WAY OF LIFE: way of life that’s really at risk from changing cliwithdrawal of the last THE TECHNOLOGICAL HUMAN. mate,” Agosta said. ice age around 11,700 years ago, Earth’s climate began to whelming when you first think about The question of who, however, becomes mark the foundation of the modern cli- how interconnected all these global dependent on the lifestyle that individuals choose to adopt. mate era. Since then, plants have orga- processes are.” nized, organisms radiated, ecosystems VCU Associate Professor of Physiologdeveloped, and technology invented; it ical Ecology, Salvatore Agosta, furthers “Individually, people’s choices and acwas avant-garde at its core. The techno- Grayson’s statement with a larger per- tions have an impact,” Grayson said. logical age augmented current data with spective of a possible cyclic system for “The kinds of choices you make in the Earth-orbiting satellites and ice cores in planetary warming. Agosta’s research products you buy, the energy you use, Greenland and Antarctica, generating has shifted focus from tropical ecology the things you wear, the things you unequivocal evidence for the warming with caterpillars, plants, and forest in- eat, and other personal choices impact of the climate system. The last 35 years teractions to Gyspy moth computation- sustainability. What causes do you dodemonstrated an average surface tem- al physiology with the VCU Center for nate money to if you are in a position where you are able to donate money? perature increase of about 0.9 degrees Environmental Studies. Where do you spend your free time? Celsius (1.62 degrees Fahrenheit.) “The climate is always a moving target, Those sorts of choices have an impact. Assistant Professor of Biology at the and life has always evolved respond- Collectively as a country, we decided to University of Richmond, Kristine ing to that changing climate. A lot of change our policies about energy and Grayson, relates the phenomenon of what’s going on now is that organisms function, which would take effect; but global warming to vast changes in the are shifting their distribution north and each individual person can make their planetary system. As a former VCU south in response to change,” Agosta own choices.” post-doctoral student in the Johnson said. “However, with constant changes Physiological Ecology Lab at VCU, in climate, the larger perspective of evo- Individual choice amplifies collective Grayson has primarily focused on ther- lutionary history in the biosphere is that voice. Richmond, locally, regionally, namal and physiology biology, research- we might actually be on some kind of tionally, and transnationally, can be its ing the environmental conditions on the cycle. We won’t know for sure until we own statement about the country’s emdistribution, population, and survival can observe over 1000 years. The differ- phasis on energy use and consumption.
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Funds and policies in environmental protection, research, and initiatives drive the baton of responsibility back to the people. In this sense, Grayson states that the best thing students and faculty can do is remain informed and active in policies regarding climate change.
Torma has taken Grayson’s advice of political activism and turned it into her career. An English and Political Science Major, Torma plans to take on an interdisciplinary route by conducting future legislative advocacy, developing global environmental policies, and supporting climate-conscientious “There are policies and environmen- election candidates. tal protections that come up all the time, affecting the cleanliness of our “What interests me most is not necesair, our water and research. These are sarily the details of the science; other very powerful things that politics can people who are smarter and more edimpact. Research is a piece to the puz- ucated than me have confirmed the zle. My results are aimed at informing science time and time again. What inour management and understanding of terests me is the human aspect of it, a particular taxa, and I use research as the perplexing reality of the stubborn, a tool for education both in my class- consistent blind eye that our entire race room and the public. I hope I am add- has been turning on this issue for years. ing one more reason why people should The very concept of climate change is care and providing a different perspec- so hard to explain to people; how can tive for thinking about how climate you point to a person’s hamburger and change impacts animal populations,” say, ‘if you eat that, you’re contributing Grayson said. to climate change.’ It sounds absurd,
nonsensical; there are so many layers to this problem that it’s difficult to convey its mechanics and importance to the general populace in a way that they understand.” The sociopolitical voice of climate change will remain dynamic, swayed with national priorities, individual preferences, and regional choices. The science beyond the movement, on the other hand, will always remain intact, wrapped in decades of ice core data and the trickling increases of CO2 represented in the ongoing Kneeling Curve. The same way, Daisyworld is a hypothetical theory, an imagined planet from two 20th century geologists. Whether Daisyworld will maintain its status as a Wikipedia model of planetary mechanisms or become the name of the next translational environmental bill for the Senate, is now up to the audience.
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THE ROAD
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WRITTEN BY MAC WOOLLEY
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PHOTOGRAPHY JEFF AND MAC WOOLLEY
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Only an hour into my five-hour journey and I had already ventured out from the GPS route multiple times. If I saw something intriguing, I would drive that way. Sometimes the GPS would reroute it so I could keep on track, but most of the time I would eventually have to turn around. I was doing a little road trip up to New York just to get away from home which was kind of a random decision, but I had a few days off from work and I decided I was sick of my routine in Baltimore. Ever since I was a kid, I have relied on movement as a means of meditation. Traveling cleared my head and gave me the time and space for unfiltered contemplation. If I ever felt like I was astray, I turned to the road. My landscape for travel started with my immediate surroundings when I was younger, and then expanded into infinity when I got my driver’s license at seventeen. On the road we find the entrancing freedom that is the unfamiliar. My trip to New York was an attempt to refind myself in a period of monotony. And it was one of the first times I exercised my newfound freedom to explore all the possibilities of the road with a car. I didn’t really have any plans, I just had three days with a place to stay. My sister lives in the city and I asked her if I could stay at her place, banking on the likelihood she would say yes. On one of the diversions, I drove down a dusty road that led to a decaying wooden church held up by makeshift buttresses. The roofing had a golden-brown rust to it and the whitewashed walls were peeling away. I parked my car and almost immediately after I got out, an old man came shuffling up to me out of nowhere. He asked what I was doing, and I told him that I was admiring the building. He said, “Well, I’m the one fixing it up right now, and if you want, I can take you inside.” He showed me the work he had already done and talked about how fragile
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the structure was. It felt like the walls could have crumbled at any second and we would have been swallowed whole by this ancient temple. He said to come back in a year or two to see the complete restoration and then wished me safe travels. Road trips and the road are such symbolic entities that they have found places all throughout literature and cinema. With the common threads of discovery, chance encounters, and beautiful scenery, the road is a perfect background for any story. The rolling hills and power lines disappearing into the horizon were meant to be romanticized. Wim Wenders found an acute interest in the road. He has made at least seven films with “the road” as a central theme or backdrop. In Alice in the Cities, a journalist is assigned to take a road trip and write about the American landscape, but all he comes back with are stacks of Polaroids. When his editor says, “What am I supposed to do with this,” he just shrugs. In his 1984 classic, Paris, Texas, the protagonist banishes himself to the road after his sinister actions cause a falling out with his wife. Whether or not there is a destination on the road, where you are going can often get lost in what you experience on the way. The destination is never as important as what sent people to the road, or what they discover on the road. In some of Wenders’s films he plays with the idea that a physical destination is not even required for a journey. A person or a state of mind is what marks the end of the voyage, not a place. The only real constant with the road is that it is a perpetual state of transition from one place to another. It is an ever-changing medium of movement -- a transcendent vehicle for journeying and a reflection of the innate human desire to migrate. Anyone can take it and it goes almost anywhere. On the road, our options are endless. Even with GPS, what it has in store is often unknown.
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OBJECTIVE EXTROSPECTION PHOTOGRAPHY MAC WOOLLEY CREATIVE DIRECTION MAC WOOLLEY PRODUCTION ASSISTANT PIPER LYNCH MODELS ADRIANA DEAN, EMMA CARLSON, KUSH BULMER, RACHEL AZZINARO
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“My grandmother had kept, in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers, a collection of things, memorabilia, balls of twine, Christmas candles, and odd socks… Its contents were so randomly assorted, yet so neatly arranged, that we felt some large significance might be behind the collection as a whole.” —MARILYNNE ROBINSON, Housekeeping
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“It's strange for me to view these objects like this, as they are so familiar to me, yet unfamiliar to anyone else. I can recount the exact moments I acquired these objects and I will continue experiencing them, yet you will just turn this page and likely never see them again. It reminds me of the use of objects. Most of these objects have uses that one can't discern by simply viewing it in these states -- you can't even tell that my clarinet case has a clarinet in it. In isolation, the objects live new lives unmarried to their original uses. They exist to be an object alone.” —RACHEL AZZINARO
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“I think that whoever sees these objects may be able to derive some sense of who I am from them. But it will be a shallow understanding, as the objects’ significance is tied up into my experiences and feelings toward them. I have acquired many things that point to activities that I have done, places I have been. They are things that I like to look at or things I just like to have. I sometimes think of myself as being a non-materialistic person, but that really isn’t true. The things I have have some significant meaning to me, big or small. I wouldn’t want to lose them.” —KUSH BULMER
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“Looking at this grid of images, I see an abstracted portrait of myself. Small pieces of larger stories, each item poses a question when isolated from its original environment. Certain and many parts of me reside within these objects while others remain unseen. I don’t believe the objects we own can wholly define us, however I do believe that the things we collect and reserve space for in our lives can say much about our temperaments and natures in an implicit sort of way. Whether objectively expressive, all physical things contain emotion. It is through how we collect, maintain, and interact with our personal objects that they become devices for us to communicate a certain idea or perception, mannerism or humor, gesture or inflection, to the world.” —EMMA CARLSON
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“If I were to only own the possessions photographed, I would be able to create a complete outfit, even with sunglasses, just without any pants. I think that wearing pants is a pretty important aspect of who I am, as I do it every day. In a time of excess materialism, the items we own are increasingly less intertwined with who we are. I’m definitely guilty of buying things I don’t need, but it’s strange to look at my grid and realize that a fair number of those items I bought on a whim, just because I felt like I needed them, and now they are a part of who I am. These items together mean so much to me, but for some of them, I’m not sure I’d notice if one went missing.” —ADRIANA DEAN
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PHOTOGRAPHY AMBER CARPENTER CREATIVE DIRECTION PIPER LYNCH MAKEUP AMBER CARPENTER STYLING PIPER LYNCH BTS DOCUMENTATION JESS SOM PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MAC WOOLLEY MODELS SYDNEY MURRAY & LIZA PITTARD ILLUSTRATIONS JULIA SACHS
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oth: a prismatic and glimmer of the past. We like to watch woodland creature of them closely through man-made habitats hazy and lunar spaces. in elementary school classrooms and idolize the process of change, its beauty They are cast as the ugly Lepidoptera and hardship. cousin to the brilliant butterfly in reference to the brown house moth’s Chemically, it seems foreign to us, but habit of chewing on cashmere cardigans it's proven that the moth still navigates and following the street lamps, sticking its environment with instincts preceding to screen doors in the summertime. the transformation, avoiding the threats learned as a caterpillar. That’s comforting Yet they all carry the same gruesome to know. metamorphosis together, beginning their humility from egg to meek larva, The moth stands as an iconographic ravenously filling themselves up with figure in symmetry and hope, greater foliage until they must molt the old and than the butterfly’s halo, as they preself-destruct, deconstructing everything date and outnumber their relatives, in they were born knowing until it is number and wingspan, colors and shapes. no longer necessary. Suspended One-hundred-ninety-million years ago miraculously from the safe twig, a the moth tuned into the geomagnetic caterpillar spins its personal cocoon of nocturne of the earth, communicating rich silk to protect before passing the via antenne to the moon and stars with a chemical procedure over in reliance special clairvoyance for movement. They to their bodies; the past self no longer sweep and waft softly like smoke through their problem. It is the second chance the wood, amongst the moss and wet of experience and nature that we leaves; they are quietly sacred, such as a hush. Pollinating at night whilst the rest must envy. of nature sleeps, it is their fuzzy bodies Metamorphosis takes 5-20 days to that are exclusively vital to those like the develop a delicate set of wings for the yucca plant. We are all dependent on the moth and its new instinct to fly. Does moth. Endurance of the moth’s modest survival through process and status exists the moth remember the caterpillar? vividly in spite of their experience. To Gynaephora groenlandica or the Woolly relearn their elegance and purpose is easy. Bear Moth may remain in its larva The moth reflects what we cannot see in stage for 7-14 years before its brief the daylight, intuitive and instinctual adult winged-life of a few weeks to lay recognition of our vulnerability through eggs, a lifetime that must warrant some the dark and in dreams.
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R E D L I N E
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Will you just let me be right here Monroe Park
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TRACING RICHMOND’S CREATIVE DILEMMA
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAVID GORDON IGNACIO
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hat does the pro-gress and development of a city look like? What does it look like for the people displaced in the process? With the ongoing growth of the VCU campus and the rising art scene of Richmond, smaller local businesses are driven out while smaller communities are forced to relocate in pursuit of a ‘better’ Richmond. “Redlining Richmond” is a project borne out of reused parts of an older installation composed of found and discarded household objects (Redline). It narrates the displacement of communities - either forced economically or naturally. The raft-like assemblage imitates the ways that impoverished communities deal with natural catastrophes as I have seen growing up in the Philippines. People cling onto their essentials and proceed to relocate after a typhoon (floods reach up to 4 stories high.) For similar reasons, my family has moved a lot; there are certain objects that continue to make their way into the new places we moved to while others are given or discarded. As we moved to the United States, the moving continued from small apartments to now a small townhouse - and everything still feels like it is not fully settled. A lot of our furniture came from scavenging in the dumpsters. This carried on into my artistic practice as a way to decontextualize commodities and create narratives of home.
for ‘the new.’ Take Monroe Park as an example — the park was closed for renovations that took over 3 years. This displaced communities that depend on public spaces for rest and sleep. The construction of the VCU Police building in the area, as well as the development of VCU buildings around the park has forced these people out of this area of Richmond. Redlining is a term referring to the systematic denial of specific communities (often racially associated), either directly or through raising prices. When planning communities, red lines were drawn around areas where there was a high saturation of people of color. These drove out certain people out of the city, creating the suburbs. The growing creative dilemma of Richmond calls to ask what infrastructures and businesses create a better sense of community and which ones contribute to gentrification. I placed these objects around Richmond not to attack them as the main causes of gentrification around Richmond, but rather to consider their overall effects as agents of this development.
I wanted to step out of the whitewalled crit rooms and enter the public space to begin conversations with agents of gentrification. The objects painted red and attached with wheels, are written with short messages speaking of journey, pertinent issues, the passage of time. How will Richmond respond, and is there ever a perfect result coming from the deThere will always be a downside to velopment of a city? Does esteem development, there will always be for institutions really benefit the ‘the old’ pushed out to make space residents of the city?
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:O Abner Clay Park
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Look at how far I’ve come Whole Foods
I can find my way back home, Thank you VMFA
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Please let me be misplaced 400 Block, West Broad St.
Just waiting to see what the world has in store for me 22nd St. Overlook, Libby Hill Park
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Been here all my life, where to now? Don’t let me pass you by Institute of Contemporary Art VCU
Stopped being a chair, next thing I know everything has changed Altria Theatre
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RUMORS OF WAR
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PHOTOGRAPHY KYLIE NEWCOMB
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DECEMBER TH 12 , 2019
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mooth jazz swings its way through the cold air outside of the VMFA as people of all ages start arriving for the unveiling of Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War at its permanent installation outside the museum. Wiley’s gallery representative, Sean Kelly would later describe it as a “fairly typical British day.” It rained earlier and the gray sky is heavy, hanging above. Even more daunting is the statue; it waits, veiled in a semi-reflective silver tarp, towering over the speakers’ dais and the raised VIP section (several rows of wet folding chairs.) Rumors of War is a 27-foot tall bronze statue of a black man on a horse. Wiley’s largest 3-dimensional work and his first public sculpture, it shares its name with the artist’s series of large scale paintings that defy the traditions of equestrian portraiture by depicting black men atop warhorses instead of white men. The “war” that Wiley is referring to is the ongoing systemic violence targeted at black people in the United States. Inspired by his visit to Richmond in 2016 for his retrospective show hosted
at the VMFA, the statue is a response to the very existence of Monument Avenue and its massive memorializations of Confederate menaces whose legacies are built on violence. Shortly after taking my place behind the VIP platform, I am approached by representatives of Times Square Art Gallery (Rumors of War was first shown publicly in Times Square). They asked to interview Kylie and I, and ask which of us is more talkative. We exchange looks. “She is,” I say. “I am,” she agrees. But they mic’d me instead and asked me some questions on camera. They do not direct any questions to my colleague. Before leaving us, they ask for dive bar recommendations. A man makes his way through the VIP section, wiping rain off of the chairs with rags. He’s worked at the museum for 24 years. “We’ve seen a lot of changes,” he says. It starts raining again, his work is undone, he disappears. A large crowd forms, and a sea of umbrellas fills the area and it feels like
we’re at a funeral. At 3:30 the honorable Governor Ralph Northam arrives sans blackface and takes his place under a tent next to the dais. A drone appears overhead, barely visible in the overcast sky and everything starts to feel quite dystopian. It stops raining. At 3:40, a hush falls over the crowd for just a moment, then there’s a shift in the air and a cacophony of more excited chatter. Horns. The Richmond Public Schools All City Marching Band approaches. The VIP seats fill up, and as the band finishes, Kehinde Wiley appears and makes his way to the speakers’ tent. The entire VIP section stands upon his arrival, and the crowd around me jeers them for being in the way -- class division in real time. Our first speaker is Alex Nyerges, director and CEO of the VMFA. This moment, he says, is a positive moment for Richmond, the United States, and the world. This statue, he says, is the fulfillment of the museum’s vision established in 1934. He introduces Governor Northam, noting his work as a surgeon and member of the military, assuring
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POWER WIELDED CORRECTLY CAN BE A THING OF BEAUTY.
the audience that “the heart of this man is in the right place.” Sections of the crowd mumble with incredulity. Nyerges goes on, saying Rumors of War is the most important work of art in the museum’s collection that will grace this space forever. “We say welcome to a progressive Virginia.” The Governor speaks next, praising Wiley for “changing the story of America through his artwork.” Next is Mayor Levar Stoney, who reminds us of the recent dedication of Maggie Walker Memorial Plaza in 2017, as well as the renaming of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and unveiling Virginia Women’s Monument at Capitol Square in 2019. And now, Rumors of War, “Richmonds signature work of art.” More dignified folks deliver speeches. “This is a step toward radical empathy,” they say. “Times are changing.” We clap and cheer, we hear the truth being told and see the history being made. We know that this is an uncommon kind of celebration because it is a genuine
public celebration of a piece of fine art, the true meaning of which would soon be unveiled by its creator. The artist finally takes the stand. My heart skips a beat. “Art has always been about what we as a people say yes to. This is the coming together of two different streams in our urge as human beings: one is to destroy and one is to create. The destruction is clear; equestrian sculpture is about people getting up on horses, and oftentimes holding swords and feeling very dominant over those who are not on that horse. We can use this as a symbol for power in all of its forms, whether it be state military power or interpersonal power within relationships. Power wielded correctly can be a thing of beauty. This is a metaphor about creation itself being a force of power… I don’t want this to be a boys’ story. I want all of our young women to feel just as engendered to the power that this sculpture represents as well. I think that what this thing represents is not just a story about race
or gender but a story about openness. It’s a story about America 2.0. The 21st century will have to be a series of yeses to moments like this… This is every artist’s dream... This is consequential on a scale that goes beyond museum walls. It’s about how we choose to give birth to the next group of people who are then going to take that as their clarion call to what we mean as a society. Ladies and gentlemen, Rumors of War.” The crowd bursts into applause and the youth of the Richmond Public Schools All City Marching Band bursts into “Swag Surfin.” The beautiful silver tarp is tugged at, pulled at, but the cascade of the fabric never comes. The crowd grows loud with wonder, confusion, and disbelief. The ropes attached to the tarp are fiddled with and pulled at more; the bronze of the horse is revealed, then the Nike sneakers on the figure, but the tarp stays, caught tight over the figure’s face for the next two hours. It’s Richmond after all — resistance is to be expected. Change is hard.
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PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER AS POSEIDON
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WRITTEN BY LUKE CAMPBELL
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BY NICO FELSENHELD
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ave the Planet” was the environmentalist slogan of the 1990s. Save the planet by recycling, by turning off the lights when you leave the room, and if you don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth, you too can save the rainforest! It was all about environmentalism in easy, every day consumer choices, like buying eggs in a paper carton instead of styrofoam. It was simple, it was easy, anyone could do it if they cared about the Earth. Though environmentalism had been in the mainstream for a while – Earth day has been around since 1970 – the early 90s were far different in terms of popular environmentalist actions. It was post-EPA, pre-An Inconvenient Truth.
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A favorite subject of George Carlin’s was words. His most famous bit by far, “Seven words you can never say on television” is the prime example of his fascination with language that is a common thread throughout his comedic material. He was an observational comic, his humor was dark, he came across as a little bit grouchy, and he didn’t shy away from subjects considered taboo at the time, like politics or religion. He was already a comedy legend by the time his 1992 HBO special Jammin in New York was released. Among the topics he discusses is environmentalism, by way of the phrase “save the planet”. He explains his feelings on the phrase:
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The bulk of Carlin’s “Save the Planet” spiel is built around deconstructing the phrase itself. “There is nothing wrong with the planet,” he tells the audience. “The planet is fine. The people are fucked.” Of course, he’s right – if human inaction on global warming continues, we’ll all surely perish. But even if we did... solve climate change, we could still be wiped out by an asteroid the next day and it wouldn’t The easiest way to prove that you care make a difference. The Earth would still about the environment is to get yourself be here – and, Carlin points out, it has involved with a cause that has a simple, already withstood countless natural dicatchy phrase. By packaging environ- sasters from long before humans were mentalist causes into simple, punchy even around. A “save the planet” rallyphrases, environmentalism becomes ing cry, is, on a semantic level, nonsense. marketable and Certainly, if “Save the EVERYBODY’S GONNA Future of Humanity” easy. It’s simple to say that SAVE SOMETHING NOW. was the slogan that you want to had been chosen to save the whales or bees and pat yourself put on posters everywhere, then people on the back for caring about the Earth might have felt like taking action on cliwhile having your individual actions re- mate change was something to priorimaining largely unchanged. tize. And even if humanity is ultimately doomed, the planet will heal itself, Carlin Saving the planet is a huge step above points out. “The air and the water will this kind of action, and involves much recover, the earth will be renewed, and greater involvement than, say, sim- if it’s true that plastic is not degradable ply cutting up the plastic rings from well, the planet will simply incorporate your six pack before throwing it out plastic into a new paradigm: the earth so the turtles don’t choke. Environ- plus plastic,” he says. The Earth would, mentalists are selfish, Carlin says: in fact, be in a better state without people “They don’t care about the planet…You on it than it is with them. This statement know what they’re interested in? A is almost refreshing to think about. Even clean place to live. Their own habitat.” if we screw up immensely and die out in But hey, take your canvas tote back the process, the Earth will recover. with “Save the Planet” screen printed on it to Trader Joe’s with you so that Even though it’s been nearly thirty years everyone knows you care about the since this special has aired, because of Earth. It’s not doing nothing, and indi- general indifference towards the climate vidual actions do add up, but it’s bold to on a governmental level, it can feel like imply that the key to saving the planet not much has changed in terms of climate lies with individuals changing their action. But even that’s not true. We have habits, and not with demanding moved from “save the planet” to “climate change at a larger scale. The strike”. We’ve gone from deciding to use problem is not that environ- paper bags instead of plastic to calling mentalists are selfish, the for the elimination of single-use plastic problem is that envi- straws. Environmental consciousness ronmentalism is often has reached a greater depth in Amerimarketed as an in- can society in recent years, meaning that dividual act rather more environmentally-friendly options than something have become more readily available. based on de- You can now buy generic-brand almond manding change milk, easily find vegan and plant-based on a struct- options on restaurant menus (at least ural level. in Richmond), buy vegan Doc Martens We’re so self-important, so self-important. Everybody’s gonna save something now. Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails. And the greatest arrogance of all, save the planet…We don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned to care for one another— we’re gonna save the fuckin’ planet?
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INK in tons of colors, etc. But being aware of your environmental impact does not begin and end with almond milk. Even though eating vegan or plant-based diets is more carbon-conscious than eating animal products, not every substitute is created equally. Almonds take tremendous amounts of water to grow, making them a less-sustainable substitute
can buy sustainably sourced clothing, or go vegan, etc. But if these options do work for you – great! Being able to make environmentally sustainable choices is a privilege, but that doesn’t mean that those who can’t perform these same actions should be shamed for it. If you can reasonably stop eating meat, or stop using straws, or whatever, without com-
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when compared to other options like promising your livelihood, it should be a oat or rice milk. Even the more environ- choice you make because not everyone mentally friendly choices can require has that privilege. further consideration. How we think about climate change has Modern-day environmentalism is also evolved since the 1990s. Now, with a fooften ignorant to the needs of other cus on ecological justice for humankind groups. For instance, the idea of banning -- rather than “save the planet”-- we have plastic straws which has become very an honest idea to form action and policy popular in the last year. This blatant- around. A part of this shift is the growing ly ignores the needs of those who have focus on holding corporations accountdisabilities that require them to use sin- able for their impact on the environment. gle-use flexible plastic straws. Even for The progress is slow, and in many ways, restaurants which will provide straws on we still seem to be on the path to destrucrequest, this places an unfair burden onto tion that Carlin spoke of. But even if we disabled people, especially for those who are, the Earth will still be here until long have invisible illnesses. Many reusable after we’re gone. straw alternatives aren’t safely usable I don’t worry about the little things, bees, for people who do need straws to drink, trees, whales, snails. I think we’re part and besides, it’s unreasonable to expect of a greater wisdom than we’ll ever unevery disabled person who needs a straw derstand, a higher order, call it what you to constantly carry around their own. For want. You know what I call it? The Big those of us who have the option to not Electron. The Big Electron. Woooohhuse a straw, it’s easy enough to just not hh, woooohhhh, woooohhhh. It doesn’t use one. But this doesn’t mean that this punish, it doesn’t reward, it doesn’t is a choice everyone can make. This goes judge at all. It just is, and so are we, for a for many other choices – not everyone little while.
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PHOTOGRAPHY REBECCA RENTON CREATIVE DIRECTION JESS SOM MAKEUP CLAIRE BUSBY STYLIST HOPE OLLIVANT LIGHTING ASSISTANT KYLIE NEWCOMB PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MIJIN CHO MODELS NANA & XANDER
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REPURPOSE
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Written by Jess Som
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xcess is just one word to describe the amount of waste we have produced on our planet; from the food we eat to the disposable single use plastics that are afloat in our oceans, it is evident that humans do make an environmental impact. The average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash each day, multiply that number by millions and you will be astonished by how much trash accumulates and contributes to the waste epidemic. “Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles are sent to a landfill or burned.” -Ellen Macarthur Foundation.
It can be overwhelming with all of the news circulating around environmental issues and climate change, but there is light in the depths of all the madness we’re thrown into. It is disheartening to see millions of unwanted textiles being wasted, piled on each day, and worsening our pollution problems. This shoot aims to bring light to the detrimental impact that fashion has on the environment. The way we can acknowledge this crisis and change is through shifting our consumption habits. We must start reconsidering the way we utilize our belongings and purchasing things only if we really need it. The most sustainable option is already something you own. There are many ways to further the lifespan of an object, through repurposing, reinventing, rewearing, reusing, and simply getting creative. The models of our systems have become reliant on recycling. The truth is, we can’t recycle our way out of our overconsumption problem -- which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, but our approach to being more eco-conscious has to start with reducing and
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reutilizing what we already have. Another sustainable alternative is to shop secondhand to minimize your impact. By doing this, you are diverting items from ending up in a landfill, and you give less of your dollars to companies with unsustainable or unethical practices. Now, more than ever, we need to raise concerns about the transparency of the fashion industry, how our clothes are made, by whom and under what conditions. Fashion is certainly a fun element of self-expression but it should not have to degrade our resources, nor harm people and the planet. The time is now to break out of the throwaway and single use culture and pay attention to our buying behaviors under the lens of social and environmental responsibility. I can attest to my own efforts of living a more sustainable lifestyle through what I simply wear. There is a thrill I get from getting to carefully select pieces that I really like and knowing that I am reducing my eco footprint that way. Thrifting is a wonderful way to curate a unique closet, it gives us the opportunity to find different pieces and rewear clothes that already exist. My favorite outfits have been styled with all pieces that are second hand. I often get asked where I get my clothes from and it feels good to say that I have thrifted it and in turn inspiring others to give it a try too. I admire British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood’s saying, “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” It’s important to take care of the clothes we own because it gives you less of a need to replace or buy more. Before buying, consider all the other ways you can thrift, swap or revamp your clothes and the realities behind our purchases. The best we can do is to raise awareness of the impact we make on a small and large scale and learn how to help in whatever ways possible. It is time to make individual shifts and push for systematic change. It can be overwhelming with all of the news circulating around environmental issues and climate change, but there is light in the depths of all the madness we’re thrown into. There is a purpose for our efforts because collectively it’s our duty to make a change and do better for home, for everyone and to consume with care.
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