When I initially started on this project I actually wanted to create a piece that doesn’t really focus on a theme or concept, but only focusing on the aesthetics. Into the week I was starting to have doubts about my idea because it would be hard to explain it. And so, during the first weekend of the project I was talking to my friend from NYU about politics and we got into modern feminism and the liberal media. I thought that it was a good topic to cover, as it could stir some discussion due to the liberal mindset of the school and the student faculty body. I decided to make one on how men’s issues have been overlooked, and are suppressed by the liberal media. One fact is that the media is dominated by the liberals, and mainstream media glorifies feminist agendas while suppressing the other side. My concept is to be on a more neutral ground simply just presenting the fact the media is suppressing the other side. However, of course there is an underlying offense on the liberal media and third wave feminism. Which is another theme it covers, in which the liberal media often uses emotional appeal and anecdote over logic and facts to push their agenda. Furthermore, the major point is how they face the other side. During public presentations of supporters of men issues, they would often be met with name calling and violence as well. Being called fascists and misogynists simply due to expressing their side of the story in a peaceful matter. My piece is a cage with a man’s mouth in it, and on top of it is a padlock. I started with the padlock, and I measured with painstaking accuracy, so that it would fit well and have no spots that protrudes out. I created the cylindrical locks by cutting 45 degrees on the edges, and then glueing the sides together. It was slightly dangerous, because my fingers were always less than 1 inch away from cutter. As for the keyhole, I used the drill so that I can get that perfect circular shape. The hardest part of the project is the cage. I measured the square holes very carefully to have almost no errors as that would result in the bars not fitting. After sketching everything out I drilled holes into all the 64 points first. After that, I used a chisel to create the square shapes. This was a long process and I thought the human error that I would make would result in me failing to fit everything together. However, in the end everything worked out perfectly, and it was a satisfying result. As for the mouth, due to the lack of the right tools I did the best I could carving it out. In general, it turned out very well. At the same time, I think I can make improvements on the mouth by making a more defined shape. Moreover, the lock can be improved on as well, since its slightly tilted.
