"You Will Never Have the Comfort of Our Silence Again"- Group Installation idea

      For as long as I can remember, I have avoided  talking/engaging/interacting with any politics or political movements or any news channel because it can be quite discouraging; I wanted to believe the world was better than it is. I wanted peace. I suddenly realized what I was doing was toxic because my neutrality (based on lack of knowledge) was oppressing people's rights. Since this dawning two years ago, a question that I continue to hear and become boggled by is, "Why do feminists hate men?" For starters, why does a movement for women become so misunderstood to the point where it is still about men? Imagine a world where men and women had equal pay. Imagine a world where women do not get tasked/told, "Oh, it is that time of the month again?" or "She was asking for it" or "She is hormonal" or "*cat call*" or "May I speak to the man of the house?" or "That is a mans job" "You run like a girl" or "He is just picking on you because he likes you." Imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they were with periods. Imagine an era where women and men are considered EQUALS. No I am not ovary-acting when I ask for equal rights. We are the land of the free, correct? 

     I introduced this idea to my group as well as the title. When it is the first day of classes, i immediately scan the room to identify the girl to guy ratio. Typically in my general education classes, women outnumber men, but in my film classes, it is the opposite. Men outnumber women. In more than five group film projects, I have been the ONLY girl. When I began pursuing film, I was intimidated by men. I was intimidated by the idea that I would not get treated the same-- this needs to end! I was interested in this assignment because it is time the female film community has realized that we are here and they will never have the comfort of our silence again. The title was influence by this period of silence/avoidance in my life from politics. In our group message, we all started pouring out ideas. Each female member of our group is adding a touch to provide their own representation/voice. I suggested the editing style for this film by stating we should edit this intro in a style that resembled the Brady Bunch introduction. By beginning this film this style we could begin with one voice and then have an accumulation of voices until a point of overwhelming. 

Someone in our group suggested beginning with a men's point of view and then transitioning it to a woman's point of view in the same editing manner above. I was immediately on board with this idea! I will be assisting in editing and finding found footage. It will loop 2 times. After the first loop, we are having Heather Jenson's talented and musical self begin a drumroll which will introduce our protest. We will have pots/pans for the audience to use to interact and join in on our revolt. I felt as if we needed some other interactive art installation and my heart immediately jumped to this scene from The Princess Diaries where they are throwing darts at balloons full of paint to create a beautiful collage.

 

I will ensure that there are enough painty balloons for each person to bust at least one balloon. The function of this is to create something beautiful from the destruction/violence/politics men have projected upon women. I wanted to find a way to juxtapose men and women with colors. We are all different elements, but when we come together we can create a beautiful image. We want to create something beautiful from this protest because when people come together, beautiful things can transpire. I will also be creating posters, bringing pads to decorate with, and feminism buttons. We will be projecting upon the bus in Jengo's Backyard. The image we will be projecting onto the bus will be made visible with a combination of pads that are different sizes, shapes, and protection depths to visually project our image onto a representation of women.  The bus represents a sense of traveling and a community. 

     I am SO excited for this project!! :) <3