Title of The Comic: Pharmaceutical Colonization of the Mind and Body
Artist Statement
The motivation for creating this piece was from the reading of Nakashima’s Invisible Monster; however, we wanted to evolve Nakashima's theory on how mixed race people are portrayed as monsters in the current context of corrupt psychiatric institutions oppressing, controlling, and economically exploiting mixed race people with pharmaceutical pills today. Leslie and Alaina conceptualized theses abstract connects and used them to develop the plot of the story. Leslie drew the line-art of the comic, and Alaina and Leslie colored the panels -- except for one of the panels. Leslie sketched all of the panels and then drew the line art with ballpoint pen. Leslie also thought of and wrote all of the quotes and captions in each panel. The comic creates a very dark, intellectually challenging, and provocative narrative that shows how corrupt psychiatric institutions use race traitors to control mixed race people with psychotropics.
All in all, we are a group of intellectual artists that uses their work for social awareness. In our perspective, an artist uses their work to state institutional, social, and structural problems in the world; we use art to expose systemic oppression in institutions that have a history of committing both covert and overt violence against mixed race people.
Very nice display of art. I like the unique feel that accompanied the story. And the background is just fantastic. The artistic statement is good with explaining the art piece in context with the topics that we discuss in class. Having a very bold art really brings out the psychological perspective of mix race. Although the words chosen are good, I think the dialogue is a bit lengthy.
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ReplyDeleteThe art reflects the intent of the artists, which is to advance and evolve ideas of mixed race monsters and traitors. The dark graphic novel genre and style worked fabulously for the topic matter. Images really drove in some very deep and difficult issues, especially in regards to abuses in the mental health industry, pharmaceutical industry, indigenous beliefs, and troubling mixed race stereotypes. I highly commend the quality and conte
ReplyDeletent of the piece over all.
A job well done. Your group not only took Nakashima's arguments and understood it, your group moved beyond what was discussed in class. The idea of being treated as mutants reminded me of X-Men and the Divergent series. The said films depicted what you comic tried to portray here. It is interesting to know that certain health institutions, or so they called themselves, would do such an act for the purposes of keeping a society "pure." In reality nothing is pure, we are all tainted, different groups of people influence each other all the time. Nevertheless, your comic was well though out, but it is not just a mere "Sunday Comic," I would find this piece more on a comic book, not a newspaper. Your statement presented the facts well in relation to the comic, however, it seems there was no equal division of work among the group members. Just a thought for the future.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful and the art style is absolutely wonderful. Sure, it's long for the theme of 'Sunday comic strip', but it's so well done I can look past that. The themes of this sort of... super natural fantasy element (with the boxes being hooked to the mixed race people in the clinic) are particularly chilling. I really enjoyed this comic, and it got its point across without me having to refer to the artist statement. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThe group did a outstanding job in diving into issues of mental institutions and portrays how people internalize being mixed race as being a "monster". The dialogues definitely reflect what we learned in class. I was sort of surprised because I expected the comic to be humorous (but comics don't have to necessarily be humorous). Other than that impression, I find it pretty lengthy, but I don't think it should take much away from your piece.
ReplyDeleteThis story thoroughly explored the ideas of the perception of mixed race individuals as monsters, sometimes due to irrational fear, even though there is such beauty the mixed race individual's heritage. This was a very deep and complex piece that really explored and expanded the themes of the week. The artist statement is adequate; for such a complex piece, having a long artist statement would only diminish the work.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome piece of art work. The art project incorporated the idea of Nakashima's and putting into a format with fantasy narrative. The art project is a bit lengthy with a little too much word but overall very well portrait what is within the artist statement. The artist statement are very well constructed, expressing the idea for the piece. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoy reading this comic story! The drawing, coloring, and organization are well crafted. The comic strip reflects the theme and readings of this week which cover how the U.S. culture view and treat people of multiple racial heritages. The art piece matches the artists' statement well and the images delve deep into many analytical and complex social issues we've talked about in class. The development of the story is brilliant in term of pulling futuristic preferences from the movie X-Men to historical details of the Trung sisters in Vietnamese history.
ReplyDeleteVery powerful piece. The artist made a abstract piece with inspiration coming from the reading and this weeks discussion. I thought the artist statement does a good job describing the piece, even thought the piece was very straightforward to begin with. I would not make any changes to the artist statement.
ReplyDeleteAmazing piece of literature. You folks did an amazing job telling a critical story that was both thrilling and chilling in regards to our state of mixed race consciousness. I must also applaud the character of Dr. Berne, who in his insidiousness, made me question my purpose and dreams of bringing enlightenment to the Hmong community by pedantically accentuating the academic and social deficits, rather than highlighting our accomplishments. I fear that in the end, like Dr. Berne's institution, a violent eruption in the name of change or justice, is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteVing, message me on fb, i couldnt find you there! Meet tmrw 430pm at deathstar
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ReplyDeleteThis is a very detailed comic strip, a bit lengthy for a comic but still contains all the key aspects of what we are learning in class. Artist brings up a good focus on oppression and violence between mixed race which is crucial because of the conflict we have between races in the past, the conflict greatly influences the mixed race person's view of what they want their identity to be. The statement can be more deeply evaluated (specific) into the struggle of being mixed race.
ReplyDeleteThis comic strip really targets the reading of Nakashima’s Invisible Monster by talking about how mixed race people are often targeted and controlled by the oppressor because they are seen as monsters. The usage of dark and bold colors really brought awareness to the message this group was trying to give. The only suggestion I would give is to shorten it up a little bit. It is quite long to be a comic strip. I know the message is large but condensing it would make the audience more pleased to read.
ReplyDeleteThis comic goes very in depth with themes and readings learned this past week. It also excels in reaching past what we learned and I'm impressed with the inclusion of historical figures like the Trung sisters. The project and statement go very well together but it's implied that your other group member Kurt didn't do anything/was left out... Also this is much longer than the intended format but overall it's good.
ReplyDeleteWonderful artwork; I really appreciate the fact that your group took a lot of time in drawing, shading, and developing the story. Your artist statement was also reflective of your artwork. However, I think your dialogue was a bit lengthy. In my opinion, the text you chose to have would be better for a short story book. If you were to shorten down the text, I think your artwork would make a stronger impact and allow for the viewer to critically think.
ReplyDeleteGreat illustration of the psychological aspects of being mixed race Nakashima points out. I enjoyed the background information/history given in this piece. It gives the reader a deeper understanding of where the artist was going with their work. I wish the dialogue was shortened but definitely great piece (:
ReplyDeleteAll the effort that it took to make this piece is surely appreciated by your audience! The artwork itself, such as the coloring and illustrations, are so detailed and create an sort of awry mood that matches the text. The story told the depression some mixed race people feel as a result of all the confusion and loneliness they may feel. The only complaint I have is that it was a bit on the lengthy side, but still definitely a good read.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding artwork! It is very detailed! It also contains the fundamental aspects we discussed in class and we can see that through the dialogues. Though comic strips’ dialogues are not supposed to be lengthy but all in all, great job!
ReplyDeleteMany interesting aspects to this piece--spiritualism, psychiatry, medication, etc. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteGreat artwork! I like how the theme was on “race traitor” at the end of the comic...It was quite detailed and lengthy, but overall, good job!
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