IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAM-NOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFEC-TIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTAC-RIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSI-AMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAM-NOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAM-NOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAM-NOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAM-NOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAM-NOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKING-FORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNO-TANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOU-

A Collaborative Effort by Nicky Flavell, Jack Short, Jaya Ghela, Lucy Yacob, Thunder Doyle, Tikirau Hathaway and Hamish Sweet

i.am.me

This collaborative effort was created for the Creativity and Design Integrated Project. Based on the original concept of “Paper” and looking at our original prompts of the 3 images and quotes.Our concepts have evolved quite considerably over the course of the projects. Starting with an idea similar idea of projecting the shadows of people and ending with a social commentary on the effects of stereotypes in today’s culture with the use of the repeated sentence “I am not …” in the shadows of “I am me”.We hope to, through this piece, bring to light the idea that people do not have to conform to a stereotype for them to be who they are. The idea was to show that we are not defined by what society thinks we are and to say that we are who we are.

Or more simply, for us to say “I am not them, I am me.”

After our initial concepts of people projections, we moved into some brief research into typography, shadows and started looking into social issues that we could look at. We wanted to make a statement with our work and didn’t want to just make an installation for the sake of an installation or just to tick a box in an assessment criteria. Eventually we decided on looking at stereotypes in society but this wasn’t without its snags. We started by looking at racial stereotypes and began with the Black/White dichotomy which was very on the nose about what we were doing so the decision was made to dial it back a notch. During this time the idea was set that we would create 3D lettering to cast shadows but the content of these letters was still up for debate. We planned to create 2 sets, one saying WHITE, one saying BLACK. But this concept proved too racially charged and was scaled back to WHITE and eventually to COLOUR.

The feedback from our idea pitch proved quite useful in developing our idea further. We continued to scale back the idea so that it was not immediately clear what sort of stereotype we were attempting to engage with and so that idea wasn’t quite so ethically charged. We also chose to scale the words back even further by completely removing the link to race altogether by using the catch all phrase “I am me” instead of white or colour. It was also decided here that we would get our letters laser cut for the clean shapes and that they would be roughly A3 in height. We would consult the laser cutting pro’s for advice on what would be the best way to have them cut to create our shapes.

Cuts and Lettering

The laser cutting tech’s recommended we get around 20 layers of each letter cut (so they could charge us more probably) but they gave us a good deal on the cutting so whatever I guess. After getting I am me cut out we used PVA glue to layer all the cut-outs together and let them sit overnight to dry.

Next our focus was on lighting and to mock up our ideas we ended up using our phone flashlights to create harsh shadows along a sheet of paper. This worked far too well unfortunately and we were unable to find another light that matched up to the strength of the smartphone. Even the super expensive LED panels from the photography department were unable to create I am me shadows in the sharp and crisp way we were hoping for.Eventually we settled on using a quickly homemade LED light Frankenstein’d onto an old laptop charger, curtesy of my father. This produced fairly crisp shadows while not being so bright that the shadows were pitch black.

Shortly after setting this up we discovered that the installation looked even better if I am me was projected onto a wall rather than onto the floor. After several tries we got an I am me that was far more legible then anything we produced when casting shadows onto the floor. Then we began writing in the shadows. And boy did that take a long time. 4-5 hours of writing the same 20 sentences into the shadows of I am me took their tolls on all of our wrists and sanities. The goal was to have a piece that was visible in both light and dark to show that original dichotomy we started with. When in light the writing inside of the I am me is clearly visible and visually interesting with its layers of different styles of handwriting and in the dark the shadows of the 3D letters line up with the writing on the wall to obscure all of the “I am not …” messages with the final phrase.

“I.AM.ME”

IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAM-NOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFEC-TIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTAC-RIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSI-AMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOM-OPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASKINGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAMNOTANIMMIGRANTIAM-NOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTACOLOURIAMNOTAREDNECTIAMNOTASK-INGFORIT IAMNOTTHEMIAMNOTATERRORISTIAMNOTAGANGMEMBERIAMNOTACRIMINALIAMNOTASLUTIAMNOTAWHOREIAMNOTAFAGGOTIAMNOTHERIAMNOTHIMIAM-NOTANIMMIGRANTIAMNOTHOMOPHOBICIAMNOTMYPARENTSIAMNOTSTUPIDIAMNOTBINARYIAMNOTASECONDCHOICEIAMNOTPERFECTIAMNOTAGAMBLERIAMNOTAC-

-Micro Aka, Hamish Sweet