Project Descriptions
Julien Avery | Multimedia Video (YouTube)
Mission accomplished “Ezra”
Trigger warning for violence and trauma and other potentially triggering images
My project is a multimedia depiction of America in the late 20th and 21st centuries. Disaster and beauty, focusing on the black diaspora and the pain and oppression felt in this country. The large-scale genocide of both Black and Native Americans go hand-in-hand with the rise of late capitalism and the ultimate fall of America. Black people have developed culture as a means of resistance, and despite the attempts to colonize this, the culture will always prevail. Even though its’ written off by many intellectuals and whites as low-brow, violent, and/or inaccessible. That is simply not true. No culture has contributed so much but been given so little, found as much beauty in a world full of pain, or simply created a world like Black people in America have. And despite a continued war to defeat it, some semblance will always prevail and evolve. For some, Black art is only viewed as valid when it politicizes pain, creates maximalist achievements that are impossible to ignore, or are already viewed as valid by other whites. However, the excellence will forever permeate, the beauty is within the mundane.
Special Thanks:
This would not be possible without the City of Milwaukee, and my upbringing within it. Thank you for all the people who have been kind enough to give time, love, and support to me. I would like to thank everybody I have met along the way who have permanently shaped my worldview and for you I am forever indebted. Thank you to Oneohtrix Point Never, Solange, and Playboi Carti for your music. This piece would not have existed without it. Thank you to the true natives of this land, and may the war for peace forever wage on. Thank you to my parents, my friends, and my mentors for forever guiding me. “It’s a struggle – not an event.” – Kwame Ture
Damien Blair | Song (Google Drive)
The Impossible Dream
This Project connects deeply with “Ding Village” but also connects with our lives in 2020. One of the reasons I choose to sing The Impossible Dream is because it tells a story that no matter how hard the struggle is, no matter how hard you fight, no matter how weary you may get, at the end of the day we’re all reaching for the same dream which in my opinion is happiness and tranquillity, and though it may seem like this dream can be impossible we as human beings no matter what race, ethnic group, Financial status, sexual orientation, political background, or anything other differences that separates us eventually find our way back to Reach what I consider the “Impossible Dream”.
Emma Brenaman | Painting; Description (Google Drive; YouTube)
Disoriented
In this painting is a visual description of the feelings from the book, “Dream of Ding Village.” In this visual painting I have painted Yang Lingling, a young woman who suffers from a lot of neglect and abuse because she made the mistake of selling her blood. I decided it would be best to try and depict the lost look on her face because as she realizes in the book, she doesn’t have anyone to rely on but the Uncle because everyone has disowned her, including her in-laws. I wanted to include red items that had deep symbolism inside the story including red flowers, red leaves, etc.
Amya Camberos | Painting and Research (YouTube)
The Blood From the Poor Rural Provinces
The purpose of this project is for the audience to understand the general information about the sexually transmitted diseases of AIDS. Not only learn the general topic about AIDs, but to be able to understand other people’s experience with AIDS that are struggling in order to survive. I focused more on the poor rural areas of China, specifically in the Henan Chinese province who had been heavily affected by HIV/AIDS.
Areyanna Collins | Drawing (YouTube)
Elder’s Respect
My project is about elder’s respect. I feel like they get treated so badly and differently. Just because they’re old doesn’t mean to treat them any differently. At the end of the day, they are still human beings and one day, everybody is going to be old. They are still people who just can’t move around as much and are dealing with a lot of stuff. They need more respect.
Soren Ditzenberger | Acrylic painting on canvas (YouTube)
The Two Fields
The painting/collage attempts to display the idea of a dystopian village in China. On the left, the village and field are red, depicting a plump, colorful and healthy environment. On the right, we have a black and white monochrome view of another village that makes it look drained and lamented. In the painting there is also a use of collaged flowers, some that are native to China, for example, the peonies and china rose.
Alexander Eberhage | Digital Art (YouTube)
Whispers of Truth
In my original art piece titled “Whispers of truth” I am combining multiple images in order to compare the Chinese utopia that the government is trying to present themselves as and the reality that there are problems in the Chinese system of government that need to be fixed. On the right side of the art piece you can see the utopian society that the government wants you to believe in, Happy lives are being lived and everyone is having a great time. While on the left side the truth/reality is being hidden behind multiple layers of fog, the truth is slowly making its way to the public but the Chinese government is trying to hide it, the fog represents the government trying to hide the truth. The truth being that there are so many citizens who are dying and are suffering from the disease that is spreading.
TayGeyonnia Egerson | Painting (YouTube)
Donated Death
For this project I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I came up with multiple ideas but when it was time for me to draw them, they just didn’t turn out quite right. So I came up with a different idea instead. My painting consists of a girl dreaming. I decided to have it where the dream floats out of her head in some way and on the inside of the ‘dream’ is a hand donating blood. I decided to put a skull in the blood bag to correlate with the idea that whoever donates blood tends to get sick and die. Also on the needle that’s inserted in the skin of the hand has the Chinese symbol of death. I wanted my painting to consist mostly of a black and white aspect and to have only certain parts of the painting in other colors. For the parts of the empty space of the ‘dream’ I decided to have a swirl design of black, grey, and white assuming it would give the painting the effect of being in a dream; and for the empty space of the part outside of the ‘dream’ my idea was just to have a dotted background.
Amanda Hergn | Lullaby (YouTube)
Music Composition for Kalimba
The work I have created surrounds the theme of dreams inspired from the book “Ding Village”. Throughout the book I became interested in the descriptive ambient atmosphere. This motivated me to compose a piece using Kalimba as the only instrument in order to build a similar aesthetic of life that the book built. Dreams with the touch of life accurately describes what the characters experience when dreaming in “Ding Village” as a realistic fiction book.
Adriana Hernandez | Poster (YouTube)
The Censored Utopia
For my project I wanted to show censorship, dreams, utopia, family honor, and pandemics. I put my version of Lingling into my poster to show how censored she is from ruining her family honor for being with Ding Ling and cheating on Xiaoming. I showed the utopia they all wanted in the bubble to show what everyone wanted and how things could be better. Outside of the bubble is how things really are there with the whole pandemic. And the syringe is to show what started it all.
Matiana Hernandez | Painting (YouTube)
Awakening
My artwork titled ‘Awakening’ is a painting that reflects the works of magical realism. My work is inspired by the blends of fantasy and reality along with the sense of a spiritual awakening. While reading Dream of Ding Village I was mostly impressed by the author’s use of distinct imagery that was used to represent fantasy and reality. This combination is what inspired me most to create an image with similar representations of nature and ‘otherworldly’ features. The world that I have created within my painting represents my personal spiritual awakening that I hope others may also relate to. The rings that surround the sun in my painting represent the auras and energy that I hope to give off to others along with the representation of the ‘evil eye’ which I often use to ward off any bad energy. Overall the main message that I wanted to convey through my painting is the use of ‘normal’ images and to transform them into a magical approach to our ‘realistic’ world.
Samorra Johnson | Painting (YouTube)
Left to Drown
This is my painting titled Left to Drown. I was inspired by the concept of magical realism presented in the novel. I drew a hand reaching out of a river of blood to depict how the people within Ding Village and other poor villages in China were pretty much left to die without much aid from the government. It also shows how the selling of blood was able to wipe out dozens of innocent lives both young and old all for monetary profit.
Castiel King | Zine (YouTube)
HIV/AIDS: “Needs to be Cured.”
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has and still affects millions of people worldwide. Major groups that were affected include the gay community, more specifically gay men, and African men. Through stigma and prejudice, many people within these communities are refused treatment and are turned away by loved ones. My project, HIV/AIDS: “Needs to be Cured.” shows the history and stigma caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Aura Kostecki | Mixed Media Art Piece on Canvas (YouTube)
[Censored[][Cover[]Justify]
This canvas is full of various objects and prints to portray and exhibit the idea of censorship, in a modern chaotic way. The border of the art piece is lined with can tabs, to symbolize a jail cell and/or fences, as failure to conform to censorship could land you in serious trouble in many countries. The many word phrases and objects help visualise the many aspects of censorship, and the chaoticness of the whole piece gives off the idea that censorship can greatly vary from place to place, how confusing that is.
Seraiah Lyle | Drawing (YouTube)
The Greed Effect
My project is a Drawing that represents a merging of two different outfits. One half is a blue suit that represents the wealthy greedy people,while the other side is a torn, worn, white shirt that represents the poor people who are affected by the wealthy greedy people. My art piece is inspired by the story “Dream of Ding Village” and is also inspired by the theme that originates from “Dream of Ding Village” which is “Greed is careless and destructive of others”. One tag says “i get the money” and the other tag says “I pay the price”.
Ariel Marks | Photography (YouTube)
The Dream Shoot
Using the art of photography, I modeled in and shot a series of pictures depicting a dream like sequences, dreams being the theme I am centering my project around. In my presentation video, I will explain why I chose this theme, how it connects to the book, and how I went about creating my project. I will then show the pictures, verbally describing the meaning behind each one. To close off the video I’ll explain the message I want to get across and why I chose dreams.
Jodeline Pizarro | Dance
Uncensored
The art of dance is used as a way to communicate and storytell. In this choreographed piece entitled Uncensored, I communicate to the audience by translating the meaning of censorship. I did this by creating movements that correspond with the idea of what censorship is. More specifically, I choreographed my dance to gradually portray the transition from being censored to uncensored.
Alaysia Randolph | Mixed Media
Together
It is a mixed media piece about the bind love has, “in life or in death”. It shows how a pandemic can pull others apart, but also bring them together. The people in the background are a mix of dead people and village people, they still have a legacy living on. You can also see the couple being pulled to their death, but they are resilient because they are together and together they are strong.
Yexuanj Rivera Melendez | Painting (YouTube)
A Path Toward the Light
Ding village makes it clear that we must focus only on the good things that life has to offer. In the book characters like linglin and uncle Ding find their path toward happiness together in spite of being surrounded by negativity. These characters found ways to surpass the obstacles that life threw at them, and that is the message I want to convey with my painting. Around the gloominess and the deceptions of this world we can find a clear light path leading towards tranquility.; But to get to this pass we need to face our fears and surpass the obstacles that prevent us from finding true happiness.
Tailus Rush | Poem and Visual Creation (YouTube)
Modern Pandemic
In my project I will create two poems and a 8×9 representation on our current pandemic in my own eyes. My idea for my project is to show my audience my perspective of pandemics(especially the COVID-19 one) and hopefully allow them to see from a different perspective in doing so.
Owen Saiia | Essay (YouTube)
Communism In China
For my project I wrote an essay about the history of communism in China. I think that it would provide context to the types of things the people in the story Ding Village had to go through because of their government. I am also interested in world history so I thought it would be a fun and interesting paper for me to write.
Pue Shwe Thin | Painting with Watercolor (YouTube)
Aids and Communism
This painting contains an awareness sign in the middle to represent AIDs which is the main focus. The background is a mix of purple, pink, and blue to create an image of what it would look like inside the vein. The background also has HIV viruses to show the form it takes when penetrating the body as well as red blood cells as it is transferred through blood.
Lasonne Sysamouth | Painting (YouTube)
Heated Love in Winter
The love between Ding Liang and Lingling in the Ding Village book has inspired me to create a painting. Their spur of the moment type of love made me more interested in the book and seeing the journey of their relationship keeps me on my toes. I wanted to showcase the moment they stared into each other after Ding Liang confessed that they should be together when they were outside of the school and chatting about their ruined marriage. It just inspires me to make the picture in my mind come to life on a canvas.