Practice Design

British artist Zoe Buckman explores intersectional themes of feminism and blackness in her project Every Curve. She’s embroidered lyrics from rappers Tupac and Biggie in pastel thread onto vintage slips, bras, and other lingerie — with phrases like “Bitches, I like them brainless,” stitched in orange on a ’50s cone bra, and “I like ‘em cute, round tits and fat asses” on a lacy mint-green slip.

The discordant juxtaposition of delicate, traditionally feminine clothing with these harsh lyrics highlights their misogyny, evoking how these words would look stitched onto women’s bodies. “Zoe Buckman loves hip hop culture but also has this ambivalence about the way the same people who say these incredible messages are sometimes found saying things that are really problematic about women,” Thomas says. Buckman adds nuance by including more self-aware, less misogynistic lyrics — like Tupac’s “I’ll never call you bitch again” and “Why do we hate our women?” — avoiding demonization of the hip-hop artists she’s commenting on here.

DO WE HATE OUR WOMEN

QUEERING SPACES
PART II

For the second part of the assignment, we ask you to (1) redefine your research question more specifically and reframe it towards a proposal and (2) propose an intervention that queers your space in any form (using performance, installation, visual campaign, fashion etc...).You can queer a space by challenging its politics and social dynamics or by making the social norms happening there visible.

My main focus in the second part of the assignment is to challenge the notion of the 'tunnel of love' in the Maastunnel.

To do so, I have created a variation of responses to harassment that can be stuck to the walls, ceilings and elevators of the tunnel. These stickers, designed with the same colour palette and framing typography, will expand within the tunnel and will stand out amongst the usual empty aesthetic of the tunnel. The goal is to attract the attention of the passer-bys which will question the sudden appearance of these quotes.

THE TUNNEL OF LOVE STORIES

We took one of the most beautiful pictures of our lives in the tunnel of love. The announcement photo of our little girl Djazz. She was now born on August 15, 2019, but the photo is still a favorite with our family.

Made on Valentine's Day in the Tunnel of Love with my girlfriend. In our Rotterdam where we, as 2 women, felt safe enough to take a romantic photo together in the tunnel of love. Grateful that this is possible in this beautiful city.

My best photo from the Maastunnel has indeed been edited, because of course I could not take my rabbit with me to the tunnel, I took the photo myself in the tunnel and I had my rabbit processed in it.
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WITH MY LOVE YVONNE IN THE TEMPORARY TUNNEL OF LOVE - GERT ONNINK

It is beautiful to see that people share these intimate moments with each other in the tunnel, but it also makes me think that the goverment only shows what they want the public to see.

The flyer aims to attract the public by promoting the tunnel of love and re-directing them to the unlearn harassment website to make them aware of the things happening in the area.

The flyer design is based on the house style of the Maas tunnel. The reason for this is to target the people that do see the tunnel in this romanticised and to redirect them to the reality of many women and minority groups in relation to harassment.

PROJECT BY 'VOLLAERSZWART'

Madje Vollaers and Pascal Zwart started Studio VZ in 1991 as a design studio for interdisciplinary design and visual communication. VOLLAERSZWART explores the interaction between various disciplines such as architecture, sculpture, couture, culture and communication.->

ANTI-STREET HARASSMENT WEEK

Anti-street harassment week is an event that happens each year in April. For the year 2021, the Gemeente Rotterdam will be transforming several locations into educational hubs surrounding the topic of harassment, and the Maas tunnel is one of them.

Throughout the tunnel there will be different happenings, such as a poster exhibition which will be an open call to all artists and designer that want to contribute to street harassment awareness. Other than that, there will be flags around the buildings promoting the event, information on the elevator down to the tunnel,