Exercise 2

1.
A - Work I consider good:







B - Work I consider bad:

2.
A - Work I consider intelligent:







B - Work I consider stupid:

3.
A - Work I consider important:







B - Work I consider frivolous:

4.
A - Work I consider beautiful:







B - Work I consider ugly:

5.
A - Work I consider a craft:








B - Work I consider a piece of design:

Scroll down for theory exercise

Exercise 3 (Theory exercise)

The author of the article linked above is Sara Ahmed, an independent scholar and writer. Her area of study includes the intersection of feminist theory, queer theory, critical race theory and postcolonialism. She used to be a Professor of Race and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London and previously, Women's Studies at Lancaster University.

NOTES

PART(S) I FOUND MOST COMPELLING

'No' as a story of how someone comes to refuse what had previously been endured.

While Ahmed's social, political and even economic examples of 'no' throughout the text were clear to me and even cases I could identify with sometimes, this definition of 'no' is also one that I have struggled to articulate in personal situations as well. From a refusal to keep going despite the problems I faced and ask help from professionals, to refusing to withstand the demands some people have of who I ought to be, or not be.

As a queer, neurodivergent woman of lower economic class, there are many 'no's mentioned in the text I can side with, for lack of a better word. Already I’ve had to say ‘no’ against systems like homophobia, patriarchy, ableism, and even capitalism, both in public and private situations.

Without diving too deep into my own psyche, I like to think that this is what drew me to this specific text: it not only managed to put into words what many see as resistance, what others would call activism, or SJW rhetoric, depending on who you ask, but it was also something I could relate to, or identify with. It would explain why I’m intrigued by stories of women’s anger (two examples linked below), which is often caused by the injustices we face on a daily basis which, as Ahmed’s text also explores, are so often brushed off when we say ‘no’ to them. As the subtitle of one of my examples states: ‘Minda Honey tells the story of a daughter who refused to walk on eggshells.’ There that word is again: to refuse. Refusing what had previously been endured.

While I must admit I haven’t gone too deep into researching this topic further, the few times I’ve encountered articles like this, I’ve felt a mix of both catharsis and anger. Catharsis because this meant that I was not alone - in fact, many women experience similar things and as a result feel the same way. Because so many of us are taught to not express anger, something Soraya Chemaly also talks about in the Ted Talk I’ve linked below, it was relieving to learn things like this. And I’ve felt anger. Anger because I read or hear about the situations in which these women’s anger has been dismissed, and I feel angry, not just because of the injustice of the dismissal their ‘no’s, but also because oftentimes I have been in similar situations that cause their anger and ‘no’ in the first place, and as such I am angry WITH them.

WHO IS WRITING?

QUESTIONS // EXAMPLES OF ART OR DESIGN PROJECTS RELATED TO THE TEXT'S THEMES

I struggled finding a project that thematically relates to what is talked about in Ahmed's text. I settled eventually on a film I saw at Annecy's 2020 online festival called 'The Snail and the Whale', an animated film of about half an hour, based on Julia Donaldson's children's book. It fits within the theme in a simple manner: the snail is told by her flock that she should stay up in the harbour they inhabit and be content, but she says 'no' to that notion and follows her dream to sail around the world.

This made me wonder to what degree we do teach, and/or ought to teach, children to say 'no' and to what. (See also the Twitter thread this reminded me of, which I've added below) I have no concrete answers to this, but it is a question that did come to mind.

'No' as a story of how someone comes to refuse what had previously been endured.

👀 at my art: