By: Llesenia, Andrea, and Nicholas
When our group was reflecting on origins of the concept of race, especially in the United States, we realized that, although miscegenation laws have been repealed, the notions of set, distinct races still lingers in the minds of people. The subconscious act of mentally categorizing people into distinct racial categories still occurs. Moreover, those who do not fit into these set categories are considered deviants. This is particularly damaging to mixed race people who feel that they belong to more racial category. More importantly, in order to be considered less of a deviant, mixed race people are often forced to choose to present themselves as one race. Therefore, our group created an infograph showing the current viewpoint of mixed race people and how mixed race people should be “evaluated,” if need be. We centered the piece around the experience of one of our group members, Andrea, and her experience being mixed race. Andrea has struggled with people who have tried to categorize her or only acknowledge one of her mixed race identities. We wanted to create an infograph that blurs the lines of this race phenomenon and show that mixed race peoples identity is more complex, not just black and white. We did this in hopes that more people will acknowledge mixed race people’s identity in its entirety.
We used black and white image, with 50/50 percentages, to show how others perceive Andrea as either one or the other, based on how many stereotypes she fits into. The image is in a solid brown frame to show how these racial boundaries trap her. Below it is an of wonder woman to show that Andrea is more than her race(s)and to highlight the fact that human beings are complex with many different aspects that make them who they are. The 5/5 percentages show that Andrea’s race is only a small part of who she is. Once again the image is outlined with a brown box, but this one has dashed lines to show that Andrea is breaking out of these set notions of race.
We used the website canva to make our infograph, as well as googling images that would help our piece. Our artist philosophy is to push the boundary of hegemonic ideas and highlight awareness to different people's struggles. Similarly, the creation of the inforgraph serves to bring awareness and knowledge to people who don't know much about people who identify as mixed raced. With the statistics displayed, we hope that our audience gets an idea of the importance of mixed raced identity and the statistical representations start changing.
I liked that you highlighted one of your group members mix-race identity as part of your infograph. I wish it was noted on the infograph somewhere, if I had not read the artist statement I would have been confused at to who the bottom portion of the infograph referred to. The attention to detail in regards to the creation of the infograph is great. You paid attention to detail as well as highlighting issues that other mixed-race individuals go through and it is important to represent the individual beyond their mixed race identity.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your explanation of even the smallest details in your artist statement. It helped me better understand the infographic, but I still had a hard time understanding the section that had the image of wonder woman entirely. But overall this is in inspirational and organized piece.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy how it highlights a specific group of mixed race, and how the stereotypes of the two groups might cause identification issue within the individuals. I thought the infograph seemed a little detached at second half, and it seems to be putting too much great ideas into one simple piece. However I enjoy the clarity and simplicity of the piece. There should also be a reference part for all the statistic data. The artist statement is a little long, but overall good work!
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I liked that your group refocused the lens of why and how society saw mixed-raced individuals and looked at a more psychological approach in the way the general public's minds work to categorize. I am familiar with this notion, so it was nice seeing it being applied in your chosen topic. Moreover, it is interesting that your group chose to focus on one of your group members. It was a different take, and it brought into focus an individual's experience. The infograph looked polished and well thought out. I specifically enjoyed your group's explanation in the statement and finally seeing it unfold in the visual. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI liked the infograph, it seems to have a good balance of context and statistics. The project itself was very concise and the artist statement does explain the project and all the little details. Overall it was really good, job well done!
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ReplyDeleteI liked how your group chose to take on a group member's personal experience and was able to generalize the issue. I really liked the statement and thought that it went well with your artwork; I also noticed that your group put a lot of thought into every detail of the infograph seeing how you pointed out the meaning being the brown box. One thing that I didn't really understand that your group could consider elaborating on is why you chose to include stereotypes for the first section, but specific characteristics that pertain with someone for the second section.
ReplyDeleteI really like this one and can't see any immediate improvements. I like the stark juxtaposition between the top and the bottom, with the bottom 'humanizing' mixed-race people and counteracting the stereotypes often presented by both races mixing.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the infograph itself looks very professional, well put together, and is full of information. I think it has the right amount of information, so each aspect of the infograph doesn't clash with one another. I also liked how you guys used a personal point of view to display your views on society's view on mixed raced people. There are always stereotypes, but when you take each individual person, they aren't what we all seem to think and automatically classify them as.
ReplyDeleteThe infographic looks really great! It's very well designed and has enough information to go in depth but not too much as to overwhelm the reader. I think the statement does a good job reflecting the piece. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you used images along with your descriptions in the infographic, it made reading it more exciting! Your topic was very interesting because I've thought about the whole - categorizing people without even knowing - topic before. The artist statement was very specific and detailed, no need for improvement!
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