š Hi! My name is Elizabeth Lin and Iām coming from the Bay Area. I most recently worked as a product designer at an ed-tech nonprofit, Khan Academy. I applied to participate in SFPCās 10 weeks immersive because I wanted to learn how to explore my creativity outside of design.
On the first day of class, we each wrote a list of questions we wanted to answer throughout the 10 weeks. Some of my questions included: What should I make? How will I find ways to combine my love for art and tech with fashion? How do I make something thatās not utilitarian? How do I share what I learn with the rest of the world? During the last 6 weeks, Iāve made more progress towards these answers than I have in the last year. Hereās a summary of my learnings so far š
š©āšØ You are an artist.
When I rehearsed my āMeet the Studentsā presentation with Lauren, she gave me one piece of feedback, āPoint to that and say THIS is what I want to make.ā I still felt uneasy, but Lauren gave me the push I needed to start making.
During the first Artistās Toolkit class, Taeyoon asked us if we would describe ourselves as artists. Around half the class, myself included said no; we were more comfortable using other words like designer and creative technologist. I didnāt want to consider myself an artist because I was worried I wouldnāt having anything unique to say. I had been in the design industry for so long that I wasnāt sure if I could create things without a problem statement.
Our first assignment was to write an artist statement. Initially, I was intimidated, but through writing, I found myself connecting the dots surrounding my identity and love for fashion. In American Artistās Critical Theory class, weāve read a lot about the erasure of stories in technology and I want to make sure my voice isnāt covered by those in power around me. It wasnāt until writing my artist statement, that I realized that I had a unique perspective and something important to say through my work.
š Donāt start with a goal, just start.
In my computer science classes in college, we were almost always assigned a prompt or problem set that had a ācorrectā answer. Zachās code class is the complete opposite; we donāt focus on the syntax or best practices. Instead, weāre encouraged to just try things and noodle with them until they ālook right.ā Sometimes, accidents create an even more beautiful piece.
In hardware, I found myself developing a whimsical circuitry style. Circuits always intimidated me because my past experiences were all heavily based on calculations and schematics. Electronics donāt have to be intimidating and can be playful. For example, did you know pipe cleaners are conductive?! I found them in a random bin and their curls have informed my projects since.
We also learned improvisational techniques during a guest dance class with Cori Kresge. For most of the exercises, we drew inspiration directly from each other or the dance studio itself.
Everything eventually connects
At the start, I felt like I was making a million things that were completely different from each other with no underlying theme. I knew I wanted to work on something fashion-related for the final showcase, but had no set ideas for what that would be. Just recently, Iāve found my work converging to a place that Iām genuinely interested in exploring deeply.
It all started with Scrapism when Sam taught us how to quickly download a bunch of images at once from any web source. I was so excited and immediately downloaded every photo from the Spring 2019 runway shows on Vogueās website. I wasnāt sure what to do with them at the time, so I just left them sitting in a folder for a few weeks.
In the meantime, I scraped and sorted Sephoraās foundations and concealers by brightness. Not surprisingly, makeup outside of Rihannaās Fenty collection has a lack of variety in dark skin tones.
A couple weeks later, we learned how to average a batch of images in Zachās Code class. I finally found a use for the 8,330 photos I downloaded from Vogue Runway. I averaged the photos together to create the āaverageā of fashion for Spring 2019.
I also followed with explorations using specific designers. Traditional fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Dior tend toward very white models with classic silhouettes. Aesthetically, I loved Japanese designer Rei Kawakuboās Comme des GarƧons shows, but unfortunately, her shows donāt feature a diverse set of models.
For Critical Theory, weāll be creating a zine for the final showcase and I think Iām going to connect these pieces back to Americanās essay Black Gooey Universe. āDiversityā is currently a trend being marketed by the fashion industry for the šø benefit of those at the top.
š³ All schools should have a kitchen
Cooking, eating, and cleaning together is an important part of the SFPC experience. Each week we have a family dinner organized by a group of the students, teachers, or alumni. One of the highlights was Taeyoonās CPU Dumpling Night. For the first round, we made dumplings in serial; everyone made their own set of dumplings and executed individually step-by-step. We followed with making dumplings in parallel, where everyone was assigned a task: chopping, folding, and frying. The entire experience was so fun because we were all involved and dumplings are delicious.
Students usually bring their own meal or grab food around the area after class, but sometimes we also collaborate for lunch. One of my favorite group lunches was ramen š lunch where we all brought a bag of Instant Ramen and a fancy ingredient as a topping. I would say that our creations were almost-Michelin star šā
š° Celebrating is important!
On the first day, Taeyoon suggested that we map everyoneās birthday to the SFPC calendar, so that we have a reason to celebrate š every week! As an Aries, I love birthdays, so Tim and I partnered together to make this happen. During each family dinner, we surprise the birthday people with a dessert of their choice.
Outside of birthdays, every Tuesday night, youāll find most of the students staying late with soldering irons and multimeters trying to make LEDs light up. Every time something works as expected, youāll hear a squeal or scream of excitement.
šā Make time to explore the city
This goes without saying, but New York City is filled with art and culture 24/7. Every Monday, Zach starts class by asking us what we saw over the weekend. Weāre encouraged to step outside the school to visit galleries, spaces, and events to find new sources of inspiration. As a group, we visited the Mana Contemporary Open House. A few of our TAās and alumni are a part of their New Media residency and it was inspiring to see their work on display.
Weāve also visited CW&Tās studio space to learn about fabrication processes, Babycastles to play games about protest, and Future Spaces to experience art at scale.
My experience during the last 6 weeks has been a flurry of stimulation and inspiration from every angle. Iāve experimented with technologies in poetic ways in hopes of finding my voice. Iāve become friends with amazing, inspirational people who are all driven by different stories. Iāve seen and met so many communities of creatives who are accessible. For the rest of my time here, I hope to find more questions I want to continue to answer after I leave SFPC and bring what Iāve learned back to my communities in the Bay.
I want to recommend SFPC for people like me who are looking to meet artists, explore new creative mediums, and think about art in a critical way. If you want to see more of my work at SFPC, follow me @lalizlapoet.
Come check out our final showcase on November 10 ~ 11. RSVP Here āØ
Spring 2019 Immersive
- Ten-Weeks Session: March 11th ā May. 17th, 2019
- Location: SFPC, 155 Bank street, West Village, NYC
- Application open until November 4th, 2018
