Dec 08, 2015 Going Overground presentation at OTIS College of Art and Design
The other week, our daughter came home and asked Wendy and me if my brother-in-law could speak to her class. Her teacher was trying to line up speakers for the second-grade Community Heroes unit, and Eric is a pediatrician. Doctors, police officers, fire fighters–the list of speakers was excellent and a lot like a Playskool set of role models, but we thought, “Where are the artists, activists, and agitators?” It’s cool to have the so-called pillars of society but there are other forces for good that are invisible and not so easily categorized. Kids should know about those avenues, too.
I swear I wasn’t thinking about me, but in my past life as an independent magazine editor I gave a lot of talks to college classes pertaining to Asian American Studies, communications, and media. It doesn’t happen as often these days, so I was honored and excited when my good friend Gabie Strong invited me to be a guest lecturer at her Otis College of Art and Design class about activism and the arts called Community Arts in L.A.
I can’t possibly and shouldn’t type out the entire presentation because it’s funnier in person and you should just crash the next class or event that thinks of me. But the point was that I’m neither an artist nor an activist yet my involvement in subcultures has both built communities and effected change, without either being a goal.
The publication I helped start both championed and united arty, indie, and uncool aspects of Asian and hybrid culture when kung-fu movies and anime were underground, punk rock was still dangerous, street art was embryonic, and the foodie scene didn’t exist. My friend Eric and I simply wrote about stuff we liked, and never intended for the mag to create a scene for like-minded Asians and non-Asians alike. It exposed and also introduced different creative forces to each other and they have gone on to do great things even after the magazine ran its course. Meanwhile, Eric’s work with Asian and indie artists is still going strong…
The Save Music in Chinatown project that my wife Wendy and I launched more recently also began with had a very narrow focus: to raise money to pay for the defunded music program at our daughter’s school. Yet it also has some awesome side effects that we never anticipated. It demonstrates the DIY aesthetic to the kids who attend. How cool is it for them to see rad musicians carry in their own gear and play their hearts out on a tiny stage for a small crowd? And how mind-blowing is it for them to see regular people like us putting on shows, making posters, and creating zines? On top of that, we are amassing a tight community that attends our shows. Punks, locals, and kids–who knows how far it can go?
Giant Robot emerged from zines, the humblest form of journalism, and Save Music in Chinatown was started by my family with no experience in putting on shows. What is to stop art school students from doing way more awesome things that make a difference? What is to stop you?
Check out otis.edu, giantrobot.com, and Save Music in Chinatown via Facebook and follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too!