I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY

• 1 Manifesto
• 5 loobooks
• 100+ pins
• 8 sculptures
• 3 screenprinted tshirts
• 3 floor mats
• 48 prints
• 20+ stickers
• 50+ zines

The theme of this project is a series of questions and observations of the everyday in the form of a brand. As a queer person of color, I come from marginalized standpoints that are often silenced and/or underrepresented. Due to the intersectionality of these identities overlapping, I am granted a unique insight into the world that those with dominant majorities often don’t see. It’s a matter of privilege to not be occupied with thoughts of how you will be received when you walk into a room – to not be concerned if your dress, or your skin tone or your vocal inflection will mark you as wrong or othered. It’s a constant exercise that is often endured in a silent agony for the sake of others.

Therefore, this brand is an attempt to carve out space for a voice like mine, even if it’s just to ask a question. Often, art from artists with marginalized identities are expected to be directly related to that artist’s identity, hence art categories like “black” or “queer art”. If that is the inevitable category that my work will live in, then I am determined to create content that will challenge and push those labels. The need to “say some shit” is an announcement to those around to listen. It’s also an act of survival, taking from race and gender scholar Audre Lorde’s insistence that “poetry is not a luxury” – neither is my work. Using the elements of brand development allows me to conceptualize these ideas into an approachable entity, mimicking the familiarity we, as a capitalist society, have with brands. In its conclusion, the brand itself is supposed to be part self reflective, part satire and part protest, made in my own image.

I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY OFFICIAL MANIFESTO

I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY

AND I SAY “SHIT” BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE POLITE OR SUBTLE.

BUT PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE ME CAN’T BECAUSE IT SCARES EVERYONE ELSE.

ALL ANYONE EVER WANTS TO HEAR IS THE OBVIOUS. “TELL US THE TRAGEDY. TELL US HOW HARD IT IS. GIVE US AIR WHILE WE TAKE YOURS. TELL US HOW YOU FEEL AND MAKE YOURSELF HOME IN THE CUSHIONED QUEER AFROCENTRIC ISLANDER OTHERED BOX WE LAID OUT FOR YOU”. BUT I THINK THAT’S FUCKING REDUNDANT – ONE LOOK AT ME WILL TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.

I’M FULL OF QUESTIONS AND QUIET OBSERVATIONS EVERYTHING – RIDDLED WITH A NUMBER OF MARKED LENSES. I CAN’T STOP THINKING/LOOKING/ASKING.

LIKE:

TO BE RADICAL – ALL BOYS HAVE TO DO IS PAINT THEIR NAILS.

OR:

WHAT IS HONEY MADE OUT OF?

OR:

WHO FIRST THOUGHT TO CALL THE SUN YELLOW?

OR:

WHITE PEOPLE – HOW COULD YOU?

BECAUSE IF YOU’RE GOING TO PUT ME IN A FUCKING BOX, I WANT TO COLOR THE WALLS YELLOW – PART TOXIC PART JUBILANT PART FUCK YOU – I DON’T CARE IF IT’S TOO BRIGHT TOO AGGRESSIVE. I’M TRYING TO SHOW YOU THE ANATOMY OF MY INSIDES AND I NEED YOU TO PAY ATTENTION.

YES THIS IS A BRAND. YES, THIS IS A CONCEPT. YES, THIS IS MORE THAN A BRAND AND A CONCEPT. YES – THIS IS SURVIVAL THIS IS AGONY THIS IS DESPERATE. THIS IS BULLSHIT.

I CARRY A HEAVY HISTORY WITH LITTLE MEMORY REMAINING. ALL THAT THERE IS LEFT IS TO MAKE A NEW LINEAGE A NEW FUTURE INDULGENT IN ETHICS LED BY IMAGINATION AND ZEROS AND ONES.

CULTURAL AMNESIA IS A SYMPTOM OF LIVING IN BETWEEN BUT TO LIVE ON THE INTERNET – IN SCREENSHOTS PROFILES TAGS PHOTOS RENDERS MY BIOLOGY PART DATA. AN ACT OF WRITING AND ENVISIONING MYSELF INTO THE DIGITAL FUTURE IS TO BE IMMORTAL. IMMORTAL IS TO NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. TO NEVER BE FORGOTTEN IS TO NEVER LOSE MY HISTORY AGAIN.

THIS IS MYSELF ABSTRACTED, NAILED TOGETHER HAPHAZARDLY, BRANDED FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT. WITH RECKLESS ABANDON – I ABHOR THE NOTION OF BEING POLITE OF BEING CAREFUL. OF WALKING ON EGGSHELLS WITH SCORCHED FEET AND ASH IN OUR EYES.

I WANT TO MASS PRODUCE MY HEADSPACE ON THE EVERYDAY. SMASH THEM TOGETHER AND REPURPOSE THEIR MEANING. TO DISRUPT YOURS LIKE YOU DISRUPT MINE. I WANT YOU TO WEAR ANOTHER STICKER ANOTHER TSHIRT ANOTHER PIN. WEAR MYSELF OUT.

LET ME APPEAL TO YOUR MASS CULTURE LET ME REIMAGINE THE EVERYDAY FOR YOU      – PAINTED IN YELLOW.  IT’S MY OWN PERSONAL REPARATIONS INITIATIVE THAT EMPHASIZES MY VOICE AND YOUR MONEY.

I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE ME AREN’T EVER ALLOWED TO SAY SHIT EVEN WHEN WE GOT THE ANSWERS.

I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY BECAUSE SOMETIMES I CHOKE ON SPIT MEANT FOR A COMPLIMENT.

I GOT SOME SHIT TO SAY BECAUSE COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING AND I’M TRYING TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN MY FEELINGS AND YOUR REALITY.