This is the undocumented future

In our last unit Revolt of the course P'art of History we learned about revolting and how people in our history has revolted for what they believe. For this unit we specifically watched a movie called "The Chicago 8" which was a situation that happened in Chicago's history. It was about 8 men getting blamed for a big riot, they were blamed because they were some how connected with teenagers. At the end they all got send to jail for a crime that they didn't do. We also studied the race riot, that was started when black boys accidentally crossed onto the whites beach. The white started throwing rocks at them thinking it was funny when a rock hit a blacks head and died. The police came and the blacks expected the police to arrest the whites for killing their friend but the police arrested the blacks for entering whites property. That was when they blacks and whites started fighting each other for eight bloody days. In this unit I learned so much about injustice that happened in Chicago and how to make a meaningful simple message. One thing that I am proud of is the way I color my titles and the tiles them selves.

KIS
Immigrants everywhere
Soft lino-cut, plaster, clay carving tools
6 inches by 6 inches
July 24, 2014

In my mini version of a poster I wrote a message for the Dreamers “there is no limit”. In further depth I mean that Dreamers shouldn’t stop fighting for what they want and their right. Also that they shouldn’t let anyone else determine what they want to do or their future. I also include the chinese world means dream.

The way I created this piece was by creating a drawing of my message about what I would revolt for. Then I transferred my drawing onto soft lino-cut to start carving it. After I finish carving I built clay walls around my lino-cut so when I poor plaster onto it to create the tile. When the plaster was finished drying, I painted it. The, we will install the 3 tiles we created in this course in a public space.



Poem

This is the year that DREAMERs
can march into any university of their choice
get accepted and achieve their American Dream
This is the year that parents of DREAMERs
achieved their American Dream
and can put their daughter on the path of success
with their hard-earned money without the help of the government

This is the year that graduates without papers
do not have to wear the uniforms of McDonalds, Burger King, or KFC
and flip burgers or fry chicken for minimum wage
This is the year that graduates without paper can apply for jobs
that will put them on the path of being a lawyer, doctor, professor, dentist, astronaut,or an engineer

This is the year the undocumented immigrants invites the president
to their homes tell him why they want a better life
and how his country can help them achieve that dream
This is the year where undocumented immigrants take ICE to their homelands
and show them the few opportunities they have in their countries.

This is the year Dreamers succeed in life to become what they want
travel the world with their money with no restrictions
This is the years politicians accept undocumented immigrants
and become themselves a dreamer

This is the year where immigrants are no longer immigrants they are citizens and are no longer treated like criminals.

If The Race Riots of 1919 began
with the mission to demolish segregation
then this is the year;
If Blacks band together to fight for equal rights
then this is the year;
And if The Great Migration began with hopeful
Blacks pursuing opportunities in the North
then this is the year;
If every person can realize that every person that contributes to a society IS a citizen of that society, then this is the year.

So may every undocumented immigrant
who work hard and comply with the law
live without fear or restrictions.

Chicago's Resilience

For our second unit of the course P'Art of History we study how Chicago shows resilience. Three events that shows resilience clearly is the construction of Illinois and Michigan canal, The Great Chicago Fire and The World Fair of 1893. In this unit we also studied Art Deco, which uses symmetry and geometric shapes. For this project, we chose an event in which Chicago has shown resilience in our lifetime. I choose to talk about The St. Patrick’s Day parade, an event special to me and my family, that is ruined yearly by the masses of intoxicated people.In this unit I learned how to create cement tiles. I am proud of how clearly my image stands out in the tile and the smooth texture of the tile.

KIS. Safety. 2014

Safety
KIS
Soft Lino-cut, carving tools, cement,clay.
6 inches by 6 inches
July 14 2014


The main purpose of this piece is to show how Chicago has demonstrated resilience in our lifetime. The question that we answered was How may you visualize Chicago's resilience today?

A way that Chicago has shown resilience is in the ways that they have dealt with big neighborhood-wide events such as St.Patrick’s Day. I like going to St.Patrick’s parade because you get to see the water get dyed and you memory’s with your family but, people get drunk, they drive, provoke accidents and makes a safe family event very unsafe. The cause of these accidents and risks are due to business selling alcohol or people illegally bringing their own alcohol to these events. Many people also drive to these events, making the roads very unsafe. Chicago has shown resilience by adding more police to patrol large events, like The St. Patrick’s Day parade. Another thing they do is warn people about drinking while driving and encourage them to take public transportation.

A time in history that shows resilience is The panic of 1837. What caused the Panic was “Land gambling”, it was easy credit since the nationwide bank was no longer in charge. The western banks took over and took risk on loaning lots of money to people who gambled. So now people spend a lot more money on land that was worthless before gambling started. Andrew Jackson (the person who came up with the idea) saw that people weren't paying back the bank he knew he had to do something to stop it. So Jackson ordered the banks to stop giving credit to the people, so now people who wanted to buy land have to buy it with gold or silver. For that reason people who buy stopped buying, investors were no longer able to invest and property values plummeted. Their economy went down and people had to pay the amount of money they bought lands for and payback the back the money they loaned. People who were rich became poor. The way Chicago showed resilience was by one person named William Ogden, became Chicago’s first mayor. Mayor Ogden sustain Chicago while the panic and r he presided over Chicago’s grim years and had a time of hibernation. He also improved Chicago by building the first swing bridge, building parks, laying out city streets, provided clean drinking water and had a sewage system. He also helped destroyed the red light districts. 

I used three symbols to address how Chicago has shown resilience in their efforts to make family events like The St. Patrick’s Day parade safer. First, I used Sankofa (shape of a heart) which means learn from the past. Second, I used Eban (diamond) which represents safety and security. Lastly, I used Sekhem represents authority. I used two Kente symbols and one Egyptian symbol.

The way I created my piece was by drawing my visual with Egyptian and Kente symbols that represent my story. From those three symbols, I arranged them on top of each other to create a pattern by using repetition. Then I traced the drawing onto the soft linoleum block. Then, I started carving out the symbols. After that I build walls of clay around my block so that I could pour cement over the linoleum to create a print. Lastly, I mixed the cement to the consistency that I wanted and poured it on to the box where the linoleum cut with my drawing was sitting.

Art Deco is a luxury, glamour, exuberance and faith. Art Deco takes the form of geometrical shapes and has symmetrical patterns. I incorporated Art Deco in my piece by repeating the pattern two more times in the block and I used symmetry and geometric shapes.

My Story of Chicago

In the course P'Art of History we study the early years in how Chicago became how it is today and how people discovered it. This class is mostly a history class but it also include art related to it. For the first Unit we read two chapter of the book City of Big Shoulders, that was about early Chicago years. For our project we created a poem or story answering the question who claims Chicago, I decided to write a story. After writing my poem I made a visual representing my story. Then I transferred that image on to a linoleum block and carve it out. Another thing that we used was neoclassical art which describes the piece. One thing I am proud of was my carving and my visual because it took me a long while to get my message across my visual and it was hard to carve the detail in the block but I managed to make it clear. Through out this course I learned about Neoclassical Art and a lot about Chicago that I didn't know about.

KIS. Chicago. 2014.

KIS

My Chicago

Soft-cut Linoleum, carving tools

6in. by 6 in.

July 2014

The main purpose of this piece is to answer the question Who lays claim to Your Chicago?  and to talk about our Chicago experiences.

In my Chicago, the government and police control everything. From gas prices to who is and isn't allowed to live in the city. People with money get treated well and have luxuries while the people who don't, get treated badly. Most of the people who do not have money are immigrants who may be forced to work in factories that endanger them physically. Education, which is often controlled by the government also influences how I experience Chicago. Education determines how much power a person can have. Although there are a lot of conflict in Chicago, I see many opportunities, especially in education.

My Chicago is claimed by the government which controls my education. As far as I can remember, my mom taught me the importance of education. It also seemed that she understood that the government controls my education and based on that she took control of my education, she didn't trust the government to do a great job. My mom laid claim to my Chicago experience by ensuring I get a good education by putting me in a head start program, finding schools that accepts me at a young age and finding better schools for me. Through my mom’s actions, I am now at a high school that is different than regular schools. My high school is a private school, and its named Global Citizenship Experience. This school offered me a full scholarship, it has small classes and it used technology. From these experience, my mom made me realize that the government controls my education by determining the quality of education different neighborhoods may receive often based on the income or race of its residents. Because  my mom recognized this, she made a huge effort to give me the best education I can get, rather than relying on the  government to provide it.

One date of early Chicago that relates to my story is 1784, when Chicago became property of the United States. It relates, how people who have a high education, haves lots of money and own land. Another date that relates in 1833, when Native Americans had to surrender their land to the settlers. It relates, when immigrants come to the United States they have no choice but to work in dangerous jobs and if they don’t they will be sent back to their country.

I incorporated elements of Neoclassical Art by making my carving a little simple and emotional.  Neoclassical Art is based on the principles of of simplicity and symmetry. This type of art includes clean lines, heroic figures and sometimes unemotional.

I created this carving by first, creating a visual that represents my story of who claims my Chicago. I did different drawings until I decided on one and shaded in heavily the letters that I was going to carve out. Then I transferred my drawing by rubbing it onto the linoleum block. After that, I traced the letters again so I can see better what I am going to carve out. Lastly I carved the letters out. In the second  we will make a cement tile of our carvings.

My Visual reads Chicago with each letter representing different parts of my story. The “C” is drawn to look like a set of handcuffs and represents the presence of the Police in my Chicago. The “H” is drawn to look like a factory and it represents the places where lots of immigrants have to work at in Chicago. The “I” is drawn to look like a diploma and it represents the high standards of education that Chicago provides. The “C” is drawn to look like the symbol of cents and it represents the presence of money in everything we do in CHicago. The “A” is drawn to look like the capitol building and it represents the government who controls everything in Chicago. The “G” is drawn to look like gas in a flame of fire and it represents the use of it everyday. Lastly the “O” is drawn to look like a heart and it represents the health of people who suffer in working.