NOTE
I haven't been able to update the blog since mid-semester during my time abroad because of how busy it was. Now, that I am back in LA, I want to get back into it and to talk a little bit about some of my work that I done for my minor as Media Arts and Practice at the School of Cinematic Arts. Please read the description for the concept and intention.
CONCEPT
My goal for this project is to allow my audiences to understand the effect of war, using the Khmer Rouge regime as my foundation. I will use this S-21 prison's portrait as a template for the project, keeping some prisoners, and replacing some with portrait of other victims from other wars as well as a portrait of me. I believe that the placement of myself into the project will open the portal for the audiences, and especially, our classmates to time travel and place themselves in the situation.
The punctum of the original photography is the expression of pain, suffering and innocence in their face. However, I believe that the punctum will be transformed completely from the expression to the idea of self-placement in a this horrific setting. The power of imagination will take all of us and place ourselves in front of the Khmer Rouge's camera at the S-21 prison, we will see those flashes from the camera, and we might express fears as the victims did. I believe that will be the new punctum of this project, the power of imagination and self-placement.
HISTORY
I am studying the Khmer Rouge regime, which resulted in the death of many innocent lives as well as affecting those who have survived. During the regime, "public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prisons, stables, reeducation camps and granaries." (CTM). One of the public high schools that was shut down was known as the S-21 prison, which played a very important and crucial role for the regime. "The most important prison in Cambodia, known as S-21, held approximately 14,000 prisoners while in operation. Only about 12 survived." (CTM). This is extremely horrifying. Therefore, I want to tell the stories of the prisoners who did not survived, to put ourselves in their shoes, to understand the condition in which they were going through in order to help my reader understand the effect of war on a society as well as the innocent people just like you.
To help us understand the project further, I want to present a quote from the testimony that was given by one of the 12 survivors of the S-21 Prison.
There are millions of Cambodians who lost their immediate family members and loved ones. The Khmer Rouge regime not only traumatized millions of Cambodians' psychological function but it created a permanent scare in every Cambodian citizens. We lost so much. The greatest lost of all were those whose resources and capacities to advance our social development. A lot of talented individuals died because some defected semi- intellectuals such as Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were too incompetent to deal with social development. However, the essence of this testimony is not seeking sympathetic sentiments. It is a reminder of what happened to our society in the last 20 years. The Khmer Rouge legacy should not be neglected or overlooked because it was the past. It should be a monumental lesson for our future generation. Such an atrocity should never be allowed to reoccur. But it should never be forgotten. (Sisowath).
I believe that Sisowath's testimony directly represent my intention for this project. It is to remind us of what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as, other regimes around the world. The innocent will suffer the most, and that we take what happened in the past as a lesson for the future and to never allow it to reoccur.