Bindle Stick

Directive:
Create a multicultural art project that explores your personal membership in various social profiles (gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, age and religion, as well as any others).
Time Limit: 2 weeks
Setting: made at home for presentation in class Power, Privilege and Oppression. Presentation was 10 min. long.

Process:
After my first draft (the painting previously discussed in prior post) I tried a performance piece. Still feeling that stereotypes were getting in the way, I decided to try to use unbiased objects that had nothing to do with the subject matter other than what I applied to them.

This began the process for the piece above. The top picture is me with the final object. My intent for this object was to make a "hobo bag", which I later learned is called a bindle stick. It is an anachronism, in that it is no longer a part of our everyday imagery, but a remnant of the past. This was perfect way to contain all of my social membership within. The following picture is of the objects within the bindle stick that represent my social membership profile (gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, age and religion). For each object I created an interpretation of my ideas behind these concept. And the photo on the bottom is a detail of the stick, which is actually 3 sticks bound by ribbon.

A quick list of what the objects represent in terms of my social membership profile:
green object - age
yellow object - religion
blue and white - gender
rust or brown object - class
multicolor object - ability
bl. & wh. decorative - race
reddish - sexual orientation

All of these pieces of me and my ideas can neatly be packed up into my bindle stick and taked anywhere I like. What a great metaphor for life.