CAT 3

Elliette is self taught writer- artist and aspiring visual storyteller. Although she has had very few opportunities to formal art training, she is adept in Photoshop, InDesign, and Paint Tool SAI and adequately experienced in the fields of digital art and graphic design. She worked on a school Newspaper staff as a graphic designer and layout designer in 2013-14. In the same year, she placed second in the category of editorial cartoon at the SCJEA state write-offs and third at the ELAJEA regional write-offs in the same category. In her spare time she enjoys reading young adult fiction and doodling in her ever-growing collection of sketchbooks. She also likes experimenting with various art styles, her own not yet set in concrete. Elliette strives to create a style that is both impactful and bold to make people want to stop and understand the messages being conveyed in the images.

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Magpies (Wikipedia Page)

Magpies (comic)

Magpies is a graphic novel by Elliette Lin, published under Next Level Comics publishing house. The story is inspired by the internal racism and the environmental state of modern-day China and borrows directly from the Chinese myth of “The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd”.

Setting

The story is set in a fictional, modern day version of China. Since China’s coal industry is indispensible, the entire country is reorganized in Magpies in a way that all the carbon emitting industries are condensed into one area where the ethnic minorities[1] (Mongols, Koreans, Tibetans, Han, Miao, Zhuang, etc) live. The racial elites, or the Han Chinese, live inner land, high above the other regions surrounded by high mountainous landscapes. While scientists are supposedly searching for ways to further reduce the air pollution, little can be done if the country refuses to see the working class as human beings and not another robot to increase production. The Han are distinguished by their porcelain skin and delicate features. Those that are not full-blooded Han, also called dirty-bloods, have inherently darker skin and more unique features.

The Industrial Province is roughly divided in to 2 sectors: East for agriculture and West for industry. The climate and air in the East is significantly better than that of the West (though not as clean as the inner lands) as it is the area designated to grow produce and raise livestock for the country. Both sectors are densely populated and the majorities that live there are mixed blooded Han with varying degrees of non-Han heritage. Guards manage the workers that work 12-hour shifts six out of seven days a week, and enforce the border fences separating the Industrial Province from the Middle Lands. The air in the Province is so bad that the citizens must wear military grade gas masks when walking outside. These masks are provided by the government and are often surplus and defects from the military. Poorer homes lack proper air filtration and its inhabitants must still wear a mask, though not as heavy duty while more fortunate families can get away without a mask while indoors. Due to the poor quality of the air, many who live in the Industrial Province suffer from lung infection of varying degrees, many suffering or dead from cancer.

Majority of the Middle Lands, the lands immediately adjacent to the Industrial Province, consist of boarding schools and military training camps. From the ages 13-18, children are able to take tests of intelligence and fitness. Depending on their score, they may be allowed to attend boarding schools free of charge. Children from the entire country must be tested, though the children from the inner lands almost always pass because they receive proper training and/or education since they are young or their family has the money to pay for the education. While Industrial Province also has free educational institutions, many children are not motivated to attend and have their hands full helping out their family. The structure of the Middle Lands’ schools use a ranking system for the students that attending the school free of charge: the lowest ranking student of each bimonthly assessment is sent home unless they can pay for the education in full. Students who manage to stay in the system usually never return to their families in the Industrial Province. Upon entrance to the school, students choose a Western name.

Higher achieving students are granted access in the Upper Land in various occupations while others remain in the Middle Lands as instructors upon completing their education. Military students are stationed throughout the country depending on their abilities. The Upper Land is a metropolis of technological advancement and scientific discoveries. Politicians in the Upper Land make much of the decisions regarding the Middle Lands and the Industrial Province as well as foreign trade. Corruption and conspiracy exist amongst the elite and threatens to boil over the surface.

Little is known of the Imperial City, which is located in the center and most elevated part of the country. It is said that those in the City live in a utopia of luxury and wealth reserved only for the purest of Han. While the Upper Land elites control much of the country’s decisions, it is believed that the Imperial City officials pull the strings behind the scenes.

Plot

Workers in the Industrial Provinces are allowed days off for traditional Chinese holidays and festivals, though they have lost the will to set up celebrations, their spirits seemingly crushed by unfair rule of the inner lands. Many in the Province only know of life of never-ending labor in a gray city and go through each day as a routine.   The stories and myths that make up their culture are no longer passed on to the younger generation.  Li is the younger of two children of an ethnic minority family, her brother, En, being 14 years her senior. En was forced him to drop out of boarding school due to his cancer. He uses what he learned in his short stay in the Middle Lands to teach Li to read and write, and about traditional myths and celebrations. Li is especially fascinated by the myth behind the Qixi festival[2] and awestruck that the inner lands have a visible night sky where one could see the Vega and Altair constellations meet.

Inspired by her brother’s stories, Li plans ways to put ‘stars’ back into the sky and become the magpies for the upcoming Qixi Festival. She befriends a young guard with too much time to kill and, along with several peers, they choose to fly the kites not just as a bridge for the Lovers in the Sky but also for the people of the Industrial Province. On the night of the festival, the kites are flown in the late evening and spark something in the people that gathered to watch the spectacle put on by kids they considered mere dreamers.  The guards cut down the lights soon after they are flown, calling them a public disturbance but it was enough—the lights reignites the flame of life in the citizens that watched or heard of the event and also plants the seed of change.

The more Li flies her kites, the more people begin to stand up. The guards, noticing that the people no longer have a dead look in their eyes, begin to more adamantly cut down the kites and warning Li and her band of Magpies as it is better to nip the problem at the bud before it blooms out of control. Upon discovering Daniel’s inner connection with the troublemaking group, the guards force him to be a double agent by threatening his place in the military. Too prideful to stake his position, Daniel attempts to discourage Li, but he is unable to crush her growing ambitions and persistence to fly her kites. Eventually, the people of the Province begin little revolts and Daniel is assigned to capture Li. The first arc of the story ends with Daniel shooting his gun, implying that the bullet fatally wounded Li who had attempted to run away, but her status is not confirmed.

Characters

Citizens are given a two three syllable Chinese name[3]—a monosyllable family name along with a one to two syllable given name. In the Middle Land schools, students given Western names[4]. Characters are listed with their full name then their Western name (if any).

·         Lei Li Na: A 12-year old girl with aspirations to create a world filled with lights, her innocence allowing her to see the Province as more than a city of smoke and pollution. She has eidetic memory[5] to the degree where she remembers everything she hears.

·         Zhang Jun/Daniel: A guard originating from the Upper Lands. He chose to join the military despite his high intelligence score.

·         Lei En Lai/Andrew: Li’s older brother with little time left to live.

Themes and Social Critique

Magpies focuses on the internal colonialism as well as the severe environmental issues in modern China. The story also touches upon the Han chauvinism, where the Han see their own race as superior to all others.

China is composed of many mixed blooded Chinese due to the large amount of immigrants from neighboring Asian countries. Ethnic minorities in China include Japanese, Koreans, Muslims, Mongols, etc. Much of China’s current population still remains Han Chinese, the dominant race, though the minorities are growing day by day. The Han view all ethnic minorities as lesser beings in need of guidance. This aspect is reflected in Magpies where the racial elites all live in the best parts of the country (Middle/Upper Lands). The politicians, as Daniel reveals, are comprised of pure Han as most do not dare vote for mix blooded individuals. The privileged are the ones running the country and living on top of the food chain. Han are simply born into a comfortable life where their future place in the Upper Land is guaranteed for them since the day they are born. The truth is, those in the Industrial Province exist because the country needs workers to fill the factories and increase industrial output. The elites long ago decided that those of lesser heritage were perfect drones because manual labor suits their class. None of them wanted to work alongside a dirty-blooded Chinese. This aspect is hidden beneath the surface in the name of keeping fairness and equal opportunities for the entire population.

For this reason, the intelligence and fitness tests are offered to teenagers of all classes. While the same test is administered to Upper and Industrial children, the difference in availability and quality of education controls the amount of Province children that pass the examinations, especially the intelligence portion. The children born in the Industrial Province are given poorer education simply because the government does not see the use in wasting precious resources on people who they view as factory drones. Majority of the admitted from the Province are those entering the military, where they are again used as drones to serve the country. The citizens in the Province, however, believe that any place would be better than where they are because in the city of smog, they are the lowest rank in the country.

Counternarrative-

While Li is like any other child that is born in the Industrial Province—underprivileged, dirty-blooded, and poor—she   grows up like any other child with a family, a home, and friends. She may not own a computer, an iPad, or a cell phone but that does not make her unintelligent and lesser than the children from the inner lands. Li is creative and passionate, always searching for new things to learn from those around her. Contrary to a stereotypical image of a citizen of poverty, Li is not always wallowing in self-pity nor is she a mindless husk of a body that the government can bend and control. She shows as much respect to her elders as the Upper Land children do and her mind is just as bright and willing to learn. Li is given a glimpse of hope from her brother’s stories and she holds on to that hope despite the conditions she was under. The author gives Li the power to remember every word she hears as a way to contrast her from her peers who have, for the most part, forgotten how to live. She wants to share with her people a sign for a better tomorrow by lighting a path for them. Her aspirations are huge, despite her young age, and she is not afraid of creating change.

The master narrative of the story is that the people of the Industrial Province are people too poor and uncultured to be able to rise above ranks of the ‘used’. However, the counternarrative arises when it is shown that the military plays a hand in making sure the oppressed remain oppressed. By cutting the kites, the oppressors are snipping the chance for the people to even begin celebrating the culture that all citizens of the country share. Because they are born with foreign heritage, the people of the Industrial Province are seen as an ‘other’ and are treated as such.

Influences

China 2015-

Magpies is inspired by the racism and environmental problems in China, where “almost a third of all global carbon emissions” is produced. The skies are “covered in a ‘toxic gray shroud” that essentially becomes a barrier blocking sky. As a result of the unclean air, cancer is the leading cause of death in China according to the Chinese Ministry of Health Chinese environmental experts estimate that premature death by air pollution would by up to 550,000 in 2020[6].

While the Chinese government has been passing regulations to reduce coal-fueled emissions, their growing industries require an increasing amount of coal. The “wealthier Chinese provinces [push] their emissions and production into low-income provinces” where marginalized, non-Han Chinese citizens live. While it may seem that the poor provinces are being offered chances by large corporations to make more money, they are forced by their poor circumstances to accept manufacturing proposals. The low-income cities are populated with racial and ethnic minorities that need the industries to make a living and are too poor to afford rejecting the proposals despite knowing the consequence of severe pollution. Essentially, the wealthy are “pushing pollution and other ecological issues into smaller and smaller boxes” and calling it environmental reform. [7]

China’s huge industrial output relies on human labor. The western Chinese city of Yiwu, for example ships out about 65% of its products nationally and internationally.[8][9] The workers labor away 12-hours a day, 6 out of 7 days a week and earn between $200-300 each month. While Yiwu ranks high on China’s list of open markets, many of Yiwu’s inhabitants are workers that produce trinkets for richer cities and countries to enjoy. Women sit inside “shabby industrial building[s]” sewing hats and putting together cheap plastic signs. Men work in under dangerous conditions in the factories and perform jobs such as melting down plastic and remolding them into decorations. [10][11]

The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd-

Magpies is also inspired by the flock of magpies that form a bridge for the two lovers in the classic Chinese myth, The Weaver girl and the Cowherd[12]. The bridge is a symbol of hope to persevere through another year despite the hardships and the conditions; that it was worth living the past year and it will be worth living another year. In Chinese culture, magpies symbolize good fortune and joy for where they nest.[13]

 The concept of the light strung kites is inspired by the ongoing web-comic, Knite[14], by Wenqing Yan. The story focuses on a dreamer who flies his light strung kites to put stars back into the sky.

Visual and Literary References

Visual References-

The fashion of the citizens of the Industrial Province references the fashion in modern day Beijing, China where many of the citizens where a paper mask over their mouths when out on the streets. The factories and streets are inspired by actual suburban factory cities in China as well as the constant smoggy air. The factories all have flat top roofs and multiple floors, divided by tasks. There are many abandoned factories that the homeless take shelter in and that Li flies her kites from. Besides factories, the homes are mostly shoddy apartments, with a few small houses. The fences separating the Industrial Province from the inner lands are similar to the electric wire fence in The Hunger Games.

Large prison-like boarding schools make up the Middle Lands along with a few nice apartments for academic instructors. The Upper Land is visually based of off New York with a slight futuristic spin. The air is clear in the Upper Land and blue skies and cool weather most days. The Imperial Land is imagined (by Lin) to be exotic in a way not unlike the Forbidden City[15] but also like the Capitol in The Hunger Games[16].

Author

Elliette is self taught writer- artist and aspiring visual storyteller. Although she has had very few opportunities to formal art training, she is adept in Photoshop, InDesign, and Paint Tool SAI and adequately experienced in the fields of digital art and graphic design. She worked on a school Newspaper staff as a graphic designer and layout designer in 2013-14. In the same year, she placed second in the category of editorial cartoon at the SCJEA state write-offs and third at the ELAJEA regional write-offs in the same category.

In her spare time she enjoys reading young adult fiction and doodling in her ever-growing collection of half-finished sketchbooks. She also likes experimenting with various art styles, her own not yet set in concrete. Elliette strives to create a style that is both impactful and bold to make people want to stop and understand the messages being conveyed in the images. She enjoys creating characters and plotting out stories for them, though none of her novels have evolved passed the planning stage as of yet.

Episodes

“Smile”—

Lin wrote a short, 2-page episode called “Smile” about Daniel and Li that takes place in an abandoned factory where Li works on her kites. The scene opens with Daniel explaining the Blue Skies Project (based on the Blue Skies Project[17][18] in China). It is clear in this comic that Daniel is extremely proud of the progress the Upper Land scientists are supposedly making in improving the air quality in the Industrial Province. When Li disagrees, Daniel takes extreme offense and accuses her of being “only a 12-year old Province kid” that could not possibly comprehend how great the scientist’s achievements are. Because he was born and raised in the Upper Land, Daniel grew up learning that his kind, the Han, is always right and always knew best and that the people in the Industrial Province are uneducated and unintelligent.

The scene shows how ageism plays a role in how people judge others. Daniel assumes that Li knows nothing because she is a child. It is similar to how adults call children stupid because they could not possibly understand what they consider ‘a grown-up situation’. In Asian countries especially, age plays a big role in how one is treated. A child is taught from birth to respect their elders: listening without interruption, greeting them, and also adding honorifics to their names. Li addresses Daniel as ‘Danial-gege’, which roughly translates to Older Brother Daniel in English. The honorific can be used even for older boys that are not blood related.

The episode ends with Li removing her paper face mask and giving Daniel a slightly sad, but determined smile while stating her promise to create change.

Criticism of Magpies

Some criticism on Magpies concerns the failure to cover the colonial aspects of the fictional China. While the graphic novel does touch up on classism by having two main characters from contrasting backgrounds, the difference in classes may be shown in a superficial manner. Li often corrects Daniel when he makes claims about the Province from things he’s learned from his peers or in books. Being a new guard Daniel is oblivious to the reality of the Province and he often approaches Li with an air of superiority, to which Li is not intimidated. She is able to make a friend out of Daniel and often open his eyes. In this way, the story falters to analyze the counter narrative and may instead be just a reversal of the master narrative.

Critics have pointed out that Lin’s use of structure in Magpies is reductive and simplistic rather than sophisticated and highly developed. The characters too are said to fall into simplistic categories like hero, victim, and villain and require more complex desires and relationships.

Illustration Gallery

Early and finalized concept designs for Li.

Early and finalized concept designs for Daniel.

Concept design and breakdown of the country.

References

^1. “List of Ethnic Groups in China.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

^2. “Qixi Festival.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^3. “Chinese Name." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 7 June 2015.

^4. "Western Names." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 7 June 2015.

^5. "Eidetic Memory." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 8 June 2015.

^6. "Pollution in China.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^7. Smith, S. E. “Exporting Environmental Racism and Classism.” This Ain’t Livin’ Meloukhia/s.e. Smith, 09  

     Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

^8. “Yiwu.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^9. “About Yiwu.” Yiwu Municipality. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^10. Maughan, Tim. “Yiwu: The Chinese City Where Christmas Is Made and Sold.” BBC Future. BBC, 18 Dec.

      2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^11. Wainwright, Oliver. “Santa’s Real Workshop: The Town in China That Makes the World’s Christmas

Decorations.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 19 Dec. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^12. “Legend of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." Chinese Culture. ILearn, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^13. Lio, Ada. "Magpie, a Symbol of Happiness.” China News. About.com, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

^14. Yan, Wenqing. “Knite (comic)." Knite Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

^15. "Forbidden City." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 June. 2015.

^16.  "The Capitol." The Hunger Games Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2015.

^17. "Blue Sky Project Proposes Low Carbon Plan." - China.org.cn. Creinglish.com, 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 9

          June 2015.

^18. "Blue Skies China." Blueskieschina.com. Media Karma, n.d. Web. 9 June 2015.

External Links

·         Elliette Lin’s Tumblr

[imaginativeface]

Story by Rootsy

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Sketchbook 12: Islands of Decolonial Love

“anyway, one of the problems with being twenty-two is you start to get afraid that maybe you’re horrible at everything, mostly because you’re not really good at anything yet”

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Sketchbook 12: Islands of Decolonial Love

1. Queen Liliuokalani – The last queen of Hawaii who was punished by America and Europe for her attempt to reform the Hawaiian constitution.

Area 51 – Located in Nevada, Area 51 is a U.S. Air Force facility rumored to house tests of experimental aircrafts and weapon systems but its true purpose is unknown.

Nishnaabeg Nation – Comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Missuaga, Saulteaus, and Omamiwinini peoples, the term ‘nation’ is derived from stories of creation and migration stories.

Mississauga Ojibway – Native Americans that were the least devastated by European epidemics and many Ojibway reservations are within their native lands of north-central U.S. and southern Canada as the plans to relocate them to Kansas and Oklahoma were never set in motion.

2. Yes, both Lilo and Stitch live in a nation-state, which is a government that rules through ‘normalcy’. Lilo and Stitch don’t fit into the culture that they are supposed to be a part of and both long to fit in. For example, Stitch is basically an ‘other’ on his planet, created in a lab as ‘experiment 626’ to be a creature of destruction. At the same time, they are not willing to completely change themselves for the sake of fitting in. Sure both are lonely because of it, but they find people who accept them for who they are.

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new character~ 

That awkward moment when you’re more interested in the side character than the protagonist………………………

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Sketchbook 11: The P-Words

“Corporate America often embraces confident, outspoken individuals with unconventional ideas. In contrast, many Asians are taught to be deferential and cling to a belief that doing a good job will automatically be rewarded. ▼ ”  

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Sketchbook 11: The P-Word

 1. Handala – A symbol of bitterness and rejection to the Palestinians, Handala takes the appearance of a tough ten year old child from a refugee camp. 

Gaza and the West Bank – Muslim groups dedicated to reclaim the land of Israel, though opposing views and methods have put the groups at odds with each other in the past years.

BDS campaign – A non-governmental global campaign striving to end Israeli occupation and full rights for Palestinians with the acronym standing for ‘Boycott, Divestmentm, and Sanctions’.

Haifa –  The largest and most industrial city in Israel, home to Matam, the largest high tech park in the country as well as a major seaport.  

2. Article – ‘Study: Top tech firms bypassing Asian workers’ by Michael Liedtke

Counter-narrative – A counter-narrative is that in America, it is the stereotype that Asians are taught “to be deferential and cling to a belief that doing a good job will automatically rewarded” and that is what holds them back in a country that looks for “confident, outspoken individuals” (Liedtke) to be executive leaders. Rather than looking for fault in their own system, the American system blames the disposition of Asian Americans for not being able to climb the corporate ladder. Still, Asian Americans stick to their beliefs nd have gotten quite far that way, though not as far as a White male can go.

3. Racism is clearly still evident in America, and not only towards African Americans. Asian Americans are raised often by parents who are immigrants that came to America for a better chance at life for themselves and their children. However, the notion of White supremacy holds all other races back from getting too far in the economy. Asian Americans are still Americans and yet their heritage automatically inclines people to see them as a label of ‘hard-working but not out-going’ regardless of how they actually are.

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Sketchbook 9 & 10: Magpies

“Where could it have gone?”

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Sketchbook 9 & 10: Magpies

1. Snapshot 1: “My superpower is…”

I love words. Words create stories and stories create the world. A world without words is gray and dead. I absorb words and keep them with me. Brother teaches me words and tells me stories about our people and things he calls ‘traditions’. I never forget a word I hear and I am learning to remember words I read because Brother gives me reading lessons and writing lessons when he can. 

2. Snapshot 2:“Her most precious possession is…”

Li truly values the power of words and the stories that words put together can make. The story of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd especially touches her because for her, there exists a better tomorrow-- a chance for people to be brought together the way words can be put together in a story. Whether this belief stems from her naiveté or maturity is a toss-up. She both understands and does not understand the hand she and her peers are dealt. The obvious division between the racial classes of their country is one that Li will eventually feel the need to bridge, just like the need she feels to bring her own people closer together by bringing back the stories they’ve forgotten. Her first light kite is her most precious possession for that reason.

3. Short Story: “One day I lost my most precious possession…”

“Where could it be?”

Li investigated under her mattress for the umpteenth time since it was the only place in her shared room to hide anything. She had finally finished building the kite from a diagram in a craft book her brother showed her. There were words all over the diagram but she only understood some of them. The pictures really helped, though. She had studied the diagram for a few days while she scrounged up materials.   

She pouts at the mess of papers and books on the floor. Surely the kite could not have moved on its own considering her mattress sat on the floor without a raised frame.

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Sketchbook 8: Sleep Dealer

“The water and our freedom were the first to go...”

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Sketchbook 8: Sleep Dealer

Sketchbook 8: Sleep Dealer

1. Technological: Nodes allow jobs to be outsourced to poor countries and cities like Tijuana without needing the worker to move to the city s/he will work in.

Today: Many jobs are digitally outsourced to India and China because labor is cheaper in those countries

Socioeconomic: Memo’s brother believes connecting with nodes is a stupid idea even though doing so may potentially improve the lives of his family. Memo, who wants to educate himself about the world, thinks differently and believes connecting will help his family.

Today: People with more education are more successful in life than those who do not.

Ecological: Water is in high demand so the government takes control of the water supply and charges a high price for it. Today: With the changing climate, drinkable water is becoming scarcer and efforts are being made to conserve water.

(California 2014 drought)

2.  Bangladesh-India Border:

Today:

Technological – India began exporting 500 megawatts of electricity a day to Bangladesh in October of 2013 in order to remedy the national shortage.

Socioeconomic Policy –  The Foreign Minister of India agreed to various things to boost ties between the two countries including increasing the frequency of Maitree Express and start buses between Dhaka, Guawahati, and Shillong.

Ecological/Environmental Condition – Bangladesh claims that it does not get its fair cut of the Ganges waters, which was to be split in accordance to Ganges Water Sharing Treaty settled in 1996.

Future:

Technological – With Bangladesh’s national shortage restored fully, the advances could be used to create a more electronically powered city. It could increase security measures (cameras, scanners, etc). The shootings at the border escalate to an extreme cyber war between the two countries. Bangladesh in particular will be attacking Indian ­­­­­websites.

Socioeconomic Policy – The relation between the two cities would be either be strained because one city begins to take advantage of the benefits given from the other and return to their 40 year old rivalry over boundaries (which was supposed settled in an accord in September 2011). The Border killing (in which Indian Border Security follows a shoot-to-kill policy) strains the relationship between the cities.

Ecological/Environmental Condition – India will take control of its water supply and either deny Bangladesh of the supplies or charge high fares to access them.

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Sketchbook 7: Dreams in a Time of War

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Ta Moko

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[culturenlifestyle]

Eco-Friendly Alternative to Coffins

Project designers, Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel have constructed a biodegradable, organic capsule as an alternative to a coffin called, “The Capsula Mundi.” The purpose of the project is a conceptually and physically beautiful one; it is to reunite the deceased body back with nature and life. After the deceased is buried in a fetal position inside the pod, a tree seed or tree will be planted above the capsule. Within time the body’s nutrients will nurture the ground, causing a tree to grow from the remains. 

Instead of harming the environment by chopping down trees for wooden coffins and burying them, the project’s aim is to promote green cemeteries adorned with trees, you can chose. Originally conceived in Italy, the project is a working theory at the moment because Italian law forbids this type of burial. The goal is to comfort loved ones with a majestic body of nature they can visit. “A cemetery will no longer be full of tombstones and will become a sacred forest.”

View the process below. 

The client will choose the tree. 

The deceased person will be buried in a fetal position inside the pod.

Their bodies will transform into nutrients for a tree to grow. 

This will create a green cemetery.

Read More

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Sketchbook 7: Dreams in a Time of War

1. Mau Mau – The Freedom Army during the Mau Mau Uprising that fought for Kenya’s independence against British rule during 1952-60 and was defeated when their leader, Dedan Kimathi was captured.

 Colonial Kenya, 1952 – There were over 80,000 white settlers in Kenya in the 1950s, and Queen Elizabeth II also took the throne in 1952.

 Indians in Kenya – Indians in Kenya were put on reserves, especially during the railways construction (where Indians were used for labor purposes in building the railway).

2. Colonialism – “I learned that our land was not quite our land; that our compound was part of property owned by an African landlord, Lord Reverend Stanley Kahahu, or Bwana Stanley as we called him; that we were now ahoi, tenants at will. How did we come to be ahoi on our own land? Had we lost our traditional land to Europeans?”

 Ecological - The narrator’s people no longer grow food and raise animals from themselves. They are forced to become workers on pyrethrum fields. The fields are planted on their forest land, cleared in order to create fields. The Europeans are encroaching onto and destroying the land, whereas before the narrator’s family “had worked only across the rails in the European-owned tea plantations” (wa Thiong, 11)

 3. Counter-narrative – “They now worked in other fields far from the compound…I was aware of trees being cut down, leaving only stumps, soil being dug up, followed by pyrethrum planting. I was strange to see the forest retreating as the pyrethrum fields advanced.” (wa Thiong, 11)

 Master-narrative – The Europeans are clearing the land for their own colonizing purposes, even though the land is not theirs to destroy. They are changing another race’s home in the name of European colonization. The counter-narrative shows the action not as glorious but as a confusing destruction and change on the narrator’s homeland.

 4. Image

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Sketchbook 6: Drowning in Fire

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Sketchbook 6: Drowning in Fire

1. Hitchiti – Indigenous Indian group part of the lower Creek tribe, though they had their own language and culture.

Creek Indian Relocation – As a result of the Treaty of Washington, a few Creeks emigrated to Alabama but continuously faced white encroachment on their land because the Treaty failed to protect the Creeks.

 2. “He would finally show them. Maybe he couldn’t kick a ball over second base, but he would come back out of the water with the rock, and he pictured shooting above the surface with it in his hand as the boys stared in amazement. He would climb the ladder one-handed, all the while holding the prize above his head like he had just won a new world title.”

 Boys in Womack’s world are expected to be masculine, which is shown through physical strength and capabilities. Those who aren’t up to par, and/or prefer more solitary activities (like reading) are considered ‘sissies’ and not recognized as a male.

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