Jessica Yang

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My third step was to figure out what I wanted on the top layers- the clear acetate paper. First, I wanted to choose an image of the reality of the situation, that the caravans were mostly families, not criminals like Trump asserted.

This ignorance subsequently builds a negative public opinion degrading these refugees. I placed an image of the caravan, displaying a crowd including families traveling through Guatemala, on top of the pages in clear acetate paper because while images should be one of the strongest forms of truth, its power is not reached as the supporters’ biased perception have already been solidified.[1] While displaying the faces of these refugees risk the danger of exploitation, I wanted to humanize the subjects of Trump’s tweets, wherein they were reduced into a (incorrect) statistic.

I chose my final top layer to state my title, “Are We Lacking Clarity” to further solidify my intention of having viewers see the contrast between Trump’s tweets and the facts, rather than skimming through them and believing it could be me supporting him.

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[1] Edgard Garrido, Honduran Migrants, Part of a Caravan Trying to Reach the U.S., Walk during a New Leg of Their Travel in Chiquimula, Guatemala October 16, 2018, ed. by Reuters, Reuters (Reuters, 16 October 2018) <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-caravan/honduras-guatemala-move-to-stop-migrant-caravan-after-trump-threats-idUSKCN1MQ1UX&gt;

[accessed 19 August 2019]

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scanned pages of final work

The next step, which took me the longest was creating factual sentences using words of Trump’s tweets. I had to more or less create sentences that matched the location of snippets of his tweeted words. This process of creative writing took many days as I was also referring to around 40 articles to make sure everything was accurate. Highlighting the inaccuracy of his words, I printed Trump’s tweeted propaganda on semi-transparent polyester film and cut out some words; the opaque paper underneath prints the same words yet are placed in new sentences stating facts drawn from news articles, recorded firsthand experiences, and government statistics. Yet I wanted both to be difficult to read when put together to represent the lack of clarity and the muddled-ness of the media. In order to read the facts one must take the extra step of turning the page–a metaphor of the extra effort required to factcheck statements, a step many choose to overlook.

After deciding I wanted to focus on the U.S.-Mexican border, I researched all of Trump’s tweets on the issue while simultaneously fact-checking them with news articles and government statistics. I found more than enough tweets that were laced with stereotyping and blatant racism. After brainstorming what exactly I wanted to convey, I decided to narrow down specifically to the humanitarian crisis with refugees coming from the Northern Triangle in Central America.

After being placed randomly in groups of 7, to begin our brainstorming in choosing a topic, we cut out headlines from recent British newspapers to view what was deemed most urgent in today’s news.

After much debate, we finally (tentatively) settled onto the topic of cultural bias/integration. Within this broad category many different ideas were thrown out: Who is a terrorist?; refugees/immigrant crisis; racial/physical stereotypes.

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As we wrote out our ideas, we discussed the social context of cultural bias. In today’s age of globalization and media connectivity, people of different cultures intermingle physically and onscreen. Groups become aware of others through immigration, tourism, economy and media.

Our first project of the program is to create a Manifesto answering, “what are the most important global issues of our time?”

We were put into groups of around 7 to choose a topic and create a Manifesto declaration. Utilizing this theme, we will individually create works to be compiled ultimately in a form of a zine.