ITP Thesis Archive 2024

Abstract

What aspects of the Immigrant experience contribute to the fear of expressing oneself, leading to self-censorship?

The immigrant experience in New York is not only one of opportunity, but also one marked by unexpectedness, frustrations, disappointments, and challenges in making meaningful connections and fully assimilating. This immersive installation hopes to provide a platform for the multifaceted immigrant experience, encapsulating both the transient struggles and enduring triumphs. Through intimate interviews with nine individuals, it endeavours to capture their memories and their journey to evoke and simulate the feelings of being an outsider.

Technical Details

The design was implemented in P5.js (Javascript). Participants could use a barcode scanner to scan the selected ID card of the immigrant whose story they wished to hear. Upon doing so at the first kiosk stand, the participant would listen to the first part of a three-part interview, edited in Premiere Pro. To foster a collaborative social moment at the end of the experience, an "AS AN IMMIGRANT I..." prompt wall was created for individuals to contribute to or leave feedback about the piece. Illustrator and Canva were used to create the visuals and touchpoints. The kiosk stands were equipped with hardware such as iPads, Bluetooth headphones, and barcode scanners.

An ID Card Printer was used to create the IDs, while Figma was used to create stickers. The organisation of information was managed in Excel.

Research/Context

New York is a melting pot for the world with some of the most unique immigrant experiences. Inspired by the city and my immigrant journey, the research for my project began with multiple conversations, where I started to find similarities with other immigrants. My research was largely shaped by qualitative research, where I interviewed and spoke with fellow immigrants about their journey and experiences post-relocation. Each interview influenced aspects of the form when designing my thesis experience. Similarities of perception of time, finding community, and difficulties with language brought out technical aspects that I wanted to incorporate into my experience.

Further Reading

Interviewed:
Lilian Giacoma - An immigration lawyer
Meg Smithson: Immigrant Social worker
Vani Subramaniam: Documentary film maker
Surojit Sircar: Multimedia Artist

Books read:
How does it feel to be a problem? By Moustafa Bayoumi
Girl in translation By Jean Kwok
Lower East Side Oral histories By Howes and Ferrra


Definitions:

Immigrant: A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
Hate Speech: Abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or similar grounds.

The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants.

https://www.kff.org/report-section/understanding-the-u-s-immigrant-experience-the-2023-kff-la-times-survey-of-immigrants-findings/

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/immigrants-artists/

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fimmigrants-of-almost-every-race-and-ethnicity-are-more-v0-a3uuxw6y46la1.png%3Fs%3D2fb762577159a337db1a80fe6f7e2c2bddf2ed25

https://archive.nytimes.com/lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/real-lives-and-surreal-dreams-among-syrias-refugees/ -

“overphotographed, but underseen,” Omar Imam

As Patricia Engel says in
Its Not Love, It's Paris:
"all immigrants are artists because they create a life, a future, from nothing but a dream. The immigrant’s life is art in its purest form.

Recent articles and usage of the word Immigrant:

Historically, Asian immigrants have had to prove themselves as valuable to the U.S. economy to be accepted, and, for many immigrants, making safer decisions that ensure survival and security is important.
—Sahaj Kaur Kohli, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023

The laments of hillbilly singers and bluesmen resonated with the shy, young immigrant who felt like a stranger in strange land and related to the outsider appeal of these rural musicians, who clearly took no part in mainstream American life.
—Joel Selvin, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Nov. 2023


Inspiration:


https://www.instagram.com/p/C0JWyhQs0qL/?img_index=1
https://onbeing.org/programs/ocean-vuong-a-life-worthy-of-our-breath-2022/
http://www.cinthya-santosbriones.com/living-in-santuary (a lot of her work is on the experience of immigration, like this one: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/immigrants-coronavirus-photography/)
Live Love Refugee, Omar Imam: https://archive.nytimes.com/lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/real-lives-and-surreal-dreams-among-syrias-refugees/
https://itp.nyu.edu/thesis2022/?morgan-chen
https://itp.nyu.edu/thesis2023/projects/?student-id=77
Minari | Official Trailer HD | A24
https://www.clotheslineproject.info/about.html
https://www.queeringthemap.com/
Bending The Frame - Photojournalism, Documentary and the Ciizen by Fred Ritchin
https://fourcornersproject.org/en/about/

Vani Subramaniam - Capital Letters