taking this viral!

ming to lam: "ethnic bai is not what i thought it would be..."

my favorite google sharer tian xie shared this with the world the other day. yes, click on "this", "this" being "中國56個民族各族全家福" (ok, i linked it again, you can click on the title), roughly translated to teh engrish as "HRMONIUS CHNA UNITED WE HAZ DIVERSE PPLZ!!!"

jokang.

but no really, this is one of the most awesomest photo campaigns i've ever seen. over the course of a year, photog 陳海汶 shot china's 56 recognized ethnic minorities on location in their traditional clothing. in some shots there is a tastefully arranged canvas backdrop, in others, the participants are positioned in front of a home or local environs. the attention to detail is stunning: the latitude and longitude of where the shot was taken is recorded, as are the names and ages of every single participant in the campaign.

usually these staged photo campaigns of minorities make me nervous. it is easy to assume the photographer 陳海汶 is han chinese. to have a member of the majority photograph his subjects in traditional garb is usually an invitation to otherize the subject and to objectify them as 2 dimensional cultural artifacts. the power dynamic between han chinese and the ethnic minorities of china mirror the same race-relation paradigms in the united states between the white majority and colored minorities with one key difference. arguably minorities are "invisible" in the us, social problems experienced by minority communities are ignored by legislation and stereotype-free images of minorities are all but absent from mainstream media. but there is awareness of shifting balances in power between the majority and the minority.

in china, there is only stasis. the notions of ethnicity, assimilation, objectification are almost completely absent. there is no conceptualization of ethnic identity in the general consciousness. any movement the government makes to suggest diversity in china becomes caricaturzied (i.e. the ridiculympic shenanigans). a project like this gives visibility to these ethnic groups. listing the names and ages of each participants defeats the anonymity of objectification, giving them presence whereas before they were invisible disenfranchisees (making up words is fun!). not to mention the photos are gorgeous. this was truly a colossal undertaking.

under the guise of getting my parents a xmas present, i purchased this book online, mwahahahhaa. they're gonna love it for their coffee table, those commies-loving fascists.

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also, mikey, my second most favoritest greader, shared this gem:



back when the gov't still sponsored drug experimentation (har har!), they fed a couple good doses to some artist, who drew a series of portraits of his medical observer. apparently when you are high as fuck off lsd you transition with ease through several key modern art movements including cubism, abstract expressionism and surrealism. the commentary is also really entertaining, i recommend clicking through to the original link.

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and finally, i believe my transition to crazy cat lady is nearing completion. when i'm at home, the cats will find me slumped on the crack couch staring vacantly at my laptop screen for hours at a time. amaya has taken the opportunity to waltz all over my ample chest (yeah, it's ample. i've gained ten pounds in the past year, half of it in my bra), causing me to realize that my cat allergies have not evaporated, but have evolved from hay fever to skin allergies. more fun with amaya:


forlorn nights alone at home with no one but the kitts. amaya positions herself comfortably on my chest.


then she realizes there is enough surface area for her to march around.


yeah, nappin. like i can do anything about it.


she's not a BABY KITTEN ANYMORE!!!! she's HEAVY!!!!!!


amaya then decides my chest has become her playground and complete annihilation of diana commences.


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


then she tries to make out with me.


someone, i dont know, karina like, please stop feeding this cat ecstasy. can i get a moment of motherfuckin PEACE here???