And it’s time to wrap up these Multimodal journals! I’ve enjoyed writing these journals for this course, and I’m sad to end them. But I’m completing them on a positive note and with more appreciation for the Arts and Music. If it weren’t for this course, I honestly do not think I would have thought about pop culture in such profound, intellectual and emotional ways! Thank you, Anna, for facilitating such a memorable final course. I learned so much, and I’m so grateful for that!
First, I’ll talk about seeing Graffiti and Street Art in a brand new light, thanks to the readings and my classmates’ fantastic presentation on the subject. The padlet activity where we shared street art from around the world was so fascinating. It was so incredible to see how vivid and different the art was from across the globe. I also thought it was interesting how a classmate said that street art became mainstream/more accepted because of Banksy’s work. I certainly agree that even I’ve come to view graffiti with much more appreciation than I would have before seeing Banksy’s work appear.
I appreciated the article written by Woodruffe & Patmore (2017) on the use of using Street Art as a means to empower Maori youth. I liked how the project provided youth with the knowledge that their art skills are already transferable skills that they could use to pursue a Higher Education degree in art if they wished to. Using “Matauranga Maori” (Maori knowledge) as the project’s starting point for these youth was really interesting. I feel like we’ve been having a lot of conversations about Eurocentric vs. Indigenous forms of knowledge. I think it is a good discussion to have; both knowledge systems have their merits. I don’t necessarily believe that one is better than the other. I believe both can co-exist as long as we can acknowledge the tensions that come up. Last year I came across the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing.” It is defined as “learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together” (Hatcher et al., 2009 as cited in Bartmes & Shukla, 2020). When I think about the Unitec Institute of Technology project, I think about how “Two-Eyed Seeing” was used in some ways. The project used Maori knowledge and Western knowledge to bring it to life.
While reading the article, I felt amazed how streets could be used as a teaching tool and empower students. In our breakout rooms during Wednesday’s presentation, the question we got revolved around the protection of street art. One of the group members discussed the “unofficial rules” that exist within the artist community practicing street art. The rules revolve around not creating art in certain places (houses, religious institutions) and not making art “over” somebody else’s art. So to protect the art, unofficial rules could be brought in and made to be official. I also thought about the question of safeguarding art. Does the location of the art dictate its protection? For example, I used to take the GO train to and from work, and on the way, there was an area where walls were erected to protect the privacy of the residents living in the houses we passed. Within a couple of days of Grafitti appeared, and some of it was beautiful, but I wonder if that art would be protected since it’s on a railway track and it’s only visible to the people who ride the GO train. It’s an interesting question to consider.
The readings about Art and its effectiveness in helping youth feel empowered and come to a better place mentally reminded me of the hit series from the BBC called “The Choir.” In the series, choirmaster Gareth Malone goes to various places and teaches people how to sing and form a choir. The first series from the show I watched was The Choir: Boys don’t Sing, where Gareth goes to an all-boys school to establish a choir. It’s incredible to watch the transformation of the students. I recently discovered another series of the show where Gareth goes to a prison for young offenders to form a choir. I was really moved while watching the episodes, and it made me think about how crucial funding is for arts across all of society. You can find the two episodes here and here.
Moving onto music, I enjoyed reading Yoon’s (2017) article about Kpop and the stories of how the participants of the study got into it. It was also interesting to hear the stories of the white participants and what elements they have to negotiate in terms of being a Kpop fan. I hadn’t known the meaning behind the word “Koreaboo” until reading this article. I was introduced to Kpop in 2010 via my brother, a fan of SNSD (Girl’s Generation), and the first video I watched was for their song “Run Devil Run.” However, I didn’t rediscover the genre until 2014, when my friend introduced me to the band EXO and showed me their video for the song “Growl.” I was immediately impressed by their dancing and the quality of the video. I then went onto discover more Kpop groups as well as Korean Hip Hop artists. Cora, one of the participants in Yoon’s (2017) study, says, “Music can transcend language. Even though I wasn’t necessarily understanding the lyrics, I could understand the music and what it was and what they were trying to say” (pg.182). I feel the same way as Cora when I listen to Kpop. However, now some videos have subtitles available, and fans create lyrics videos that offer subtitles. Therefore access to understanding the songs is more readily available for fans. For me the appeal of Kpop was both the talent displayed on screen and the stunning visuals one can find when it comes to the music videos.
I’ve written about finding community in fandoms in my third journal for this class. I met one of my friends in this program, partly because of an introduction I made in the course we had, including Kpop (I was interested in how it could be used in the classroom to discuss Korea and Korean culture). I’ve also met another friend through Kpop (a mutual friend introduced us since we went to a concert together). While I’ve never become friends with someone at a show by myself, I can appreciate how Kpop has created communities for fans. And fans engage in incredibly creative endeavours such as drawing fanart, creating fan videos and even engaging in acts of charity.
Furthermore, the article also discusses the more disturbing aspects of Kpop, such as the training schedules, the financial aspects and how their respective companies treat idols. In the past three years, three famous Kpop stars have taken their lives, which sparked many conversations about artists’ mental health and treatment in the industry. Many fans (including myself) criticize the industry for its lack of focus on the mental health of the artists we admire. As a fan, I also feel quite conflicted about Kpop at times. On the one hand, I want to support some of my favourite artists because they’re incredibly talented (I’ll buy their albums and go to concerts). On the other hand, I wish idols are treated better, where they have better earnings and better working conditions. Anecdotally, I’ve been told that the industry is changing, albeit slowly. Perhaps these changes are coming because Kpop now has an even larger global fanbase, and therefore, the industry faces more scrutiny. I hope the scrutiny will propel companies to find a sustainable and suitable business model to benefit both the companies and the idols.
As I said at the beginning of this journal, I’m grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained about pop culture in this course. It has been eye-opening and so engaging! It’s been a great course to end my Master’s program on!
Thank you to everyone who has read my journals and offered feedback! It’s truly appreciated!
To end this journal, here are some of my favourite hits and some clips from BBC's The Choir and some of my favourite Kpop songs.
References
Bartmes, N., & Shukla, S. (2020). Re-envisioning land-based pedagogies as a transformative third space: perspectives from university academics, students, and Indigenous knowledge holders from Manitoba, Canada. Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education, 14(3), 146–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2020.1719062
BSL Tours. (2020). [Sri Lankan Street Art] [Photograph]. BSL Tours. https://bestsrilankatours.com/the-street-art-takeover/
Hatcher, A., Bartlett, C., Marshall, A., & Marshall, M. (2009). Two-eyed seeing in the classroom environment: Concepts, approaches, and challenges. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 9(3), 141-153. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14926150903118342
Spratt, A. (2017). [Everything has beauty. but not everyone can see it] [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/6Aj3eKsng8c
Woodruffe, P., & Patmore, M. (2017). The street as teaching space. A case study. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S1430–S1447. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352668
Yoon, K. (2019). Transnational fandom in the making: K-pop fans in Vancouver. The International Communication Gazette, 81(2), 176–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048518802964
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