/ I Believe /
LOCO
A 30-year-old activist who works in the field of fashion and promote self-expression. She takes guest lectures at UAL and also contributes to the research team to understand the importance of breaking the set gender norms.
Tushar: Hey Loco! It is a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for being available for this quick interview over coffee.
LOCO: Sure, It is interesting what you’re doing. I am usually free during the winter break. Should we quickly get done with the interview? And then we can chat peacefully about the shoot.
Tushar: Ya so, there aren’t a lot of questions. I just want to know how you think people perceive you?
LOCO: Well, I am very clear about how I want to represent myself. So, I guess people exactly perceive me as I want them to. They are confused. Which is what I want. I don’t want to confirm things like gender or class or status with what I wear. I generally wear whatever I find fascinating and a lot of young designer friends have plenty of flavours in their wagon for me.
Tushar: Wow. I would love to see your wardrobe. And would want to see what you wear at home.
LOCO: Huh, I am actually quite the same person inside my home as I am outside. Of course, I would not be as dramatic as sometimes I get when I go out for events or parties but I think I am all colours and art whether I am inside my home or out. I hate the fact that people don’t experiment with how they represent themselves. Especially here in London, I mostly see people wearing black, which is tormenting.
Tushar: (Looking at myself) I think I chose the wrong day to wear all black.
LOCO: Hahaha, it is okay honey. At least your hair is blue.
A painting or a picture is a reflection of the artist. In a live painting setup, each artist would have a different painting of the same subject. It interests me how an artist shows and hides elements while taking a picture or making a painting.
How much reality is there in art? In the age of filters on social media apps and live-photo manipulations, it has almost become impossible to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. We as designers are almost all the time directed towards the augmented and virtual reality. If the future is fantasy and the present is becoming virtual, then how can we trust art anymore?
Paintings and photographs are the tools that have been used for several years to document reality. To the extent that a piece of photographic evidence supporting a felony could make or break it in the court of law. That lies true for photographs but not paintings. Historically, paintings have been used to reflect life and reality. Since the invention of photography, paintings took a different turn. Artists started exploring new aspects to support their art and abstract art was born. Paintings were adapting styles like Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and many others. Before this artists would only make paintings that looked close to reality. But it still lacked credibility. A painting would require a setup, conscious direction and a series of decisions. A photograph in a traditional sense is more candid and thus, truer. A still frozen in time.
With this project opportunity, I wanted to explore the contrast between these 2 mediums of storytelling. How much could an artist lie or fabricate the truth?
Jaden Brown
A 16-year-old student from Wisconsin, USA who is taking a break after high school to decide what he wants to do in the future.
Tushar: Hey Jade! Thanks for letting me use your Instagram photo for my assignment. I would like to ask you a few questions. How do you introduce yourself to a person? Tell me five words that define you.
JB: Hey! No problem man. I was actually free and looking for some cool projects to associate with. It’s always difficult to define oneself, you know. I mean we are all finding ourselves and just using 5 words won’t cut it. Haha. But I like to believe that I am a low-key person. I believe in simple things you know, I like nature, I like animals, I like to go outside and explore and play.
Tushar: That’s interesting to know. Well, when you go outside and explore or interact with people what do you think people perceive from you and your personality?
JB: Umm!! I am not much of a talker actually so people perceive that I am rude. But that’s just me man. I only talk when I really need to. Other times I am always receiving. You know what I mean right?
Tushar: Ohh, so you’re saying that you’re shy? I mean do you think it’s difficult for you to talk to people or you just....
JB: No, nothin’ like that. I actually work part-time at this cafe and I generally like to stay quiet as I don’t like interfering in other people’s business. But if someone strikes a conversation, I am all in!
Tushar: Cool, I get that. I also saw your Instagram. Actually stalked you quite a bit, to be honest. I see a lot of pictures of you with your squirrel. It is adorable. How did that start?
JB: Haha! His name is Mr. Squirrels. Quite predictable. Right? I just love animals. I even have a pet goldfish that always accompany me wherever I go. I even took her to the Badgers game last year. She enjoyed a lot. I guess we share the same love with sports.
Tushar: Well, thanks a lot Jaden for your time! Let me know whenever you’re in London. I would love to catch up. Probably I can get to see your Gold Fish too.
JB: Sure man, I’ll definitely let you know.
Angel Juanita
A 69-year-old lady from Mexico. She doesn’t speak English, so I asked a friend to help me with it. He is fluent in Spanish and had a chat with her during his winter break back home. He wrote a paragraph after his conversation with Angel.
[Angel Juanita is currently staying at a sex worker retirement home in Mexico. She is a religious woman and after a long talk, I realised that she has got a great sense of humour. She is witty and confident and reminds me of a classic Mexican actress-Sara García. I think she has adopted the personality after watching her movies and TV series over the years. She took me to the nearest local shop for groceries and she was explaining to me how she hates talking with the other old ladies in the home. She doesn’t really like old people. You see. She didn’t say that but I could tell from the way she glanced at them through the thick cigarette smoke coming out of her mouth.]
I would like to mention again that this is a fictional interview that definitely took place (inside my head)
TEAM
