The College Hill Independent September 30

8/8/2019 The College Hill Independent September 30

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THEINDY.ORG 2News

W E EK I N RE VIEW

KFC Tries Ass-vertisement

e chain-formerly-known-as Kentucky Fried Chicken has recently adopted a

booty-centric marketing tactic that will nally provide buns for its infamous san[s

bread] wich. e creative on-clothing ad campaign, as its described on the com-

panys ocial website, involves paying college girls $500 to wear red sweatpants

with Double Downthe chains 540-calorie fried chicken, cheese, and bacon be-

hemothemblazoned on the seat.

According to spokesman Rick Maynard, KFC borrowed this promotional tech-

nique from some apparel companies and sororities to target its prized young

male demographic after a 7 percent drop in 2nd quarter salesthough Im pretty

certain that most adolescent males actually think the Juicy on sweatpants refers

to the wearers rear, not the couture.

Beetle Juice for Babies

is isnt your summer camp bug juice. Millions of containers of

Similac powdered infant formula have been recalled due to

an excess of unwanted protein: common household bee-

tles. Beetles and their larvae were found in both the pop-

ular product and the Michigan plant that manufactures

it. Although there is only a small chance of buying a con-

taminated product (and even then there is very little risk

of experiencing health problems), Abbot LaboratoriesInc., the makers of Similac, announced last Wednesday

that they were voluntarily implementing a recall be-

fore any disgruntled consumers could bug out.

ere are few clues as to how the creepy-

crawlies managed to infest the factory,

and Abbot is none too thrilled with the

Beetle Invasion. e recall will likely re-

sult in a loss of around $100 million

quite a cost considering that over 99.8

percent of the product line was found to

be lacking in insect activity. At least Ab-

bot isnt alone in its misery: one of its

biggest competitors, Johnson & John-

son, has announced 11 recalls since

September 2009 on products such asTylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl due to customer com-

plaints of a musty or moldy odor coming from the items. Perhaps their plague

of bad luck has spread to Abbott.

has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immedi-

ate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing

the beetles or their larvae could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort

and refusal to eat. Maybe its because babies just dont like the taste of beetles, al-

though I cant vouch for the gustatory pleasure provided by bug-free Similac either.

-LM

by Leah Michaels and Sam Levison

Illustration by

Adela Wu

Healing Bad Carma

Remember that time you lost your temper because

you left your car on ayer Street for just ve min-

utes and got a completely unfair parking ticket? In

Cambridge, MA, the Trac and Parking Depart-

ment is trying to curb that rage by printing drawings of yoga poses on

the front and back of parking ticket envelopes. e city has printed40,000 of these envelopes in hopes that parking violators will em-

brace their inner chakras and release their trac ticket anger

when they see that dreaded envelope tucked under the

e idea is the brainchild of Daniel Peltz, a profes-

sor at the Rhode Island School of Design, who is also

the rst temporary artist-in-residence (his actual job

description) with the Trac and Parking Department.

Interested by the human response when drivers nd their

tickets, Peltz created the illustrations that appear on the

envelopesprobably the only ar twork hes done so far as a

member of the trac court. Although the city didnt com-

mission his artwork for the unique venture, they are pay-

ing a small amount to print the new age envelopes. And

once all 40,000 salutation citations have been handedout, no more will be printed. In other words, they should be used up in

about two weeks, tops.

While the Cambridge Arts Council (a group working with the Trac De-

partment to bring the project to life) and Peltz think the artsy endeavor will

bring about positive changes in the city, others are not quite as willing to

bend in new ways. According to Boston Channel 7 News, one local motorist

called it absurd and unnecessary while another rejected it as a waste

because if I got this as a ticket I am not looking at the poses to relax, believe

me. Seems like they could use some namaste in their lives. Once theyve

paid their nes, of course. -LM

website proudly claims the chain is bringing the opportunity to exchange ones rear

pants, the participants will receive a supply of KFC gift certicates to ensure that

those sweats t nice and tight.

Despite hundreds of likes on KFC s Facebook page from enthusiastic support-

ers, the blatantly chauvinist marketing strategy has been met with outrage from

National Organization for Women president Terry ONeill, who objected to the use

of womens bodies to sell fundamentally unhealthy products. ONeill also noted

that women make the majority meal-related decisions in their families, insinuating

that KFCs darling campaign may ultimately bite them right in their cor pulent cor-

porate ass. -SL

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THEINDY.ORG 4Opinions

ever before has the phrase

rearranging deck chairs

on the Titanic felt more

apt. Trusted economic

advisor to the president,

Mr. Larry Summers, an-nounced that he is return-

ing to Harvard after his stint as lookout on a

certain mammoth ocean liner, in this none-

too-subtle analogy. In the last six months,

three of the four most powerful economists

in the presidents entourage have jumped

ship, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve

describes the state of the economy as un-

usually uncertain, Congress is gridlocked,

and America continues to slouch towards the

poor house.

erations, in a statement at Goldman Sachss

Retail Conference on September 15:

I dont need to tell you that our customer re-mains challengedYou need not go farther than

one of our stores on midnight at the end of the

month. And its real interesting to watch, about

11 p.m., customers start to come in and shop, fill

their grocery basket with basic itemsbaby for-

mula, bread, eggsand continue to shop and mill

around the store until midnight when government

electronic benefits cards get activated, and then

the checkout starts and occurs. And our sales for

those first few hours on the first o f the month are

substantially and significantly hig her.

is is what the modern bread line looks

like. Electronic benet cards (i.e. food-

stamps) have replaced the breadlines of

yore. Gone are the images of hordes of men,hat in hand, wrapped around a Manhattan

city block. Gone are the resolute Dust Bowl

women that symbolized both poverty and

the strength of the American spirit during

the Great Depression. Instead, our huddled

masses it silently in and out of Walmart

in the dead of night: out of sight and out of

mind. ere are no cameras rolling in Rapid

City, Midland, Spokane or Tuscaloosa. Mil-

lions collect their pittance, and disappear

back into the night.

Mr. Simon paints the picture of the Amer-

ican economy on the micro-level. Heres the

macro-level situation: the ocial unemploy-

ment has hovered just south of 10 percent

since the recession ocially ended in June

2009 (recessions ocially end when GDP

growth is positive for two consecutive quar-

ters, not when there are palpable or con-

crete signs to workers or citizens that the

States owes its creditors nearly $14 trillion

dollars (this number is more like $18-19 tr il-

lion when Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs

debts are included), interest rates are at

.25%, treasury yields are at an all-time low,

the stock market had its best September in a

decade, and the Republicans are on the cusp

of retaking the House of Representatives in

a 1994-esque rout.

wouldnt be burdened with the largest out-

standing debt since World War II, the stock

market wouldnt surge on day after dayof dismal economic news, and Democrats

would have a more compelling plan for ght-

ing the economy than a cut in miscellaneous

taris and a tax credit for R&D. In other

words, the data being fed into the magically

mysterious decision-making engine that is

the federal government and the American

stock, bond, and currency markets is contra-

dictory and incomprehensible and people are

nding a way to make money oof it. Surely

this wont end well.

Some of the madness can be explained

verse who head the Federal Reserve. For the

last year, the Fed has pumped almost $2 tril-lion dollars into the economy in the form of

quantitative easing. Or for laymen, print-

ing money to buy banks shitty assets and

government debt. Yes, surelyprintingmoney

to nance government spending will end

you who are not familiar with our nations

central bank, the Fed injects money into

the economy by crediting banks accounts

with money that doesnt exist. For example,

if I have a heaping pile of toxic mortgaged-

backed securities and an account with the

Fed (as all major banks do), they take the

worthless assets from me, and credit my ac-

count with increasingly worthless dollars tobe spent at will. e mavens ofnance of the

Weimar Republic at least had to use real pa-

per.

On the one hand, we have real people feel-

ing real pain across the country, and on the

other, we have the Fed printing trillions of

dollars to buy worthless assets. An unelected

branch of government prints money to keep

bailing out the banks and an elected branch

of government guts foodstamps to pay for a

bailout for teachers unions. e federal gov-

ernment gladly prints money so JP Morgan

wont have to take a loss, but wont borrow

money to help put Americans back to work.

Makes perfect sense.

e course of action that seems most

likely is massive currency devaluation. Politi-

cians and economists have convinced them-

selves that if the dollar is relatively cheaper

to other currencies, American exports be-

come more attractive, businesses start hiring

again, and all will be well. What exactly does

(Japan). Not cheap plastic baubles (China).

Not solar panels (China). Not high-speed

trains (China). us the great hope for the

port more corn, wheat and soybeans to the

world market. From superpower to banana

republic.

eres a way out that has worked be-

foremassive government spendingbut it

requires a political ambition and competence

that no one seems to possess right now. e

,as the country was climbing out of the Great

Depression. We borrowed tons of money to

stimulate demand, and it worked. An $800

billion (less than 8 percent of GDP) stimulus

package that consists of a random assort-

ment of grants and infrastructure improve-

ments has failed predictably. Although the

Great Recession poses slightly less of an

existential threat to America than the Japa-

nese or the Nazis during World War II, there

is still plenty at stake in a meaningful eco-

nomic recovery.

Would todays decit hawks have voted

against ghting the Nazis in the name ofs-cal responsibility? An interesting question to

ponder.e Bank of France actively opposed

troop mobilization in the late 1930s because

it thought that excessive debt would create

a run on the Franc. is didnt work out too

well for them. Behind every bad idea is a

seemingly sound rationalization. In our case,

its that growing the national debt by a few

trillion dollars and risking higher interest

rates will be worse than suering through

years of massive unemployment and the to-

tal evaporation of the American Dream. If

we are set on resigning ourselves to an abys-

mal new normal and the end of the age of

American prosperity, then we should at leastput up a decent ght, instead of simply roll-

ing over.

Over the last twenty years, the average

real wage has remained stagnant. e ad-

vent of Walmart has allowed most people to

buy stu more cheaply, so each dollar goes

farther, and the illusion of growing wealth

was able to endure. at ction has been ex-

posed. e standard of living for most Amer-

icans had been increasing on the backs of

the people who now have their jobs. America

spent much of the aughts borrowing money

from the Chinese to then buy Chinese ex-

ports, while the backbone of the Ameri-

can middle-class was silently disappearing.

Washington shouldnt commit this country

to a Japanese-style lost decade of highun-

employment and stagnant growth in the

name of appeasing the almighty debt clock.

e dollar is the worlds reserve currency

and treasuries are the worlds safest assets.

America is still the only superpower, and we

need to start acting like it, instead of letting

ourselves be held hostage by charlatans and

demagogues. Where there is a political will,

theres a way.

Never before has BRIAN JUDGE B11 felt

more apt.

APRIMERONTURN

INGYOURSUPERPOWERINTOABANANAREPUBLIC

byBrian

Judge|IllustrationbyRobertSandler

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1 1 SEPTEMBER 30 2010 THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENTFeatures

hen Roger Wil-

liams crossed

the Seekonk River

away from Plym-

outh Colony and out

of the reach of Mas-

sachusetts extradition

orders, he did not mourn his dissenters

fate. He did not liken his circumstance to

that of the Israelites, cast to wander in

the desert before reaching the Promised

Land. Instead, he identied his beef with

the pro-Church-of-England colonists

which motivated his expulsionas a

matter of Divine Providence.

Williams could claim the patch of land he

soon purchased from the Narragansett

Native Americans as his promised land.

He duly called his new home Providence,

an overt reference to his belief that God

was on his side.

Williams wasnt alone in self-sanc-

tioning geographic occupation via ref-erence to divine power. Providence ap-

pears to be a favored ecclesiastical and

colonial concept of Britons and their

descendentsor of those who chose

to travel and found it prudent to carry

Gods will with them. ere are Provi-

dences throughout the Anglophone

world, established by colonizers, would-

be colonizers, explorers, and, as we came

to call them in this country, homestead-

ers.

eir shared name evokes a shared

idea: to nd a place providential, one

must consider ones own presence there

no less than an act of God.

COVEN PRIDE

Wherever British ships sailed, Provi-

dence went with them. anks to colo-

nialism, today you can visit several Ca-

ribbean Providences. Modern-day Isla de

Providencia, o the coast of Nicaragua,

was occupied by the Providence Island

Company before it passed to Spanish

(now Colombian) territory. It was once a

pirate hideout and is now a scuba-diving

destination.

New Providence is the largest island

in the Bahamas. (In some tricky, canni-

Providence to attack

and capture the island from the British

during the Revolutionary War.)

Elsewhere, the less-suitably-named

Providence Atoll in the Seychelles con-

sists of two inhospitable islands.

But nowhere are there more Provi-

dences than in this country.

Just 13 years after Roger Williamss

holy venture into Rhode Island, Puritans

exiled from Virginia took the same rosy

view in founding Providence, Maryland.

e city is now Annapolisrenamed

in 1694 for Princess Anne of England

(perhaps reecting colonists shifting

understanding of power to the more ter-

restrial).

Religious pilgrims fantasies of or-

dained exile in the New World evolved

easily to expansionist self-justication

skip, and jump from Williams and the

Puritans divine providence to pro-ex-

pansionist journalist John L. OSullivans

insistence on American divine destiny

in 1839, to making said destiny Manifest

with the annexation of Texas in 1845.

ere are now places called Provi-

dence in 23 of the 50 states. Most of

these Providences are tiny, usually un-

incorporated towns of fewer than 2,000

residents. Providence also lends its name

(if not its divine essence) to a neighbor-

hood in Mesa, Arizona, and a mountain

range in the Mojave National Reserve in

southern California.

e nominal link between expansion-ism and Providence deteriorated, how-

ever, as the West was won. Providence

does not exist in either Alaska or Hawaii.

It is also missing from Montana, the Da-

kotas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nevada.

Nor can Providence be found in the

southwestern states for which the idea

of Manifest Destiny was rst articulated

in order to justify their conquest from

Mexico. Either the mapmakers felt Gods

absence in their endeavors, or such insis-

tent bluster became unnecessary.

PROVED NICE

properties of American Exceptionalist

belief twinned with Christian-articulat-

was more than just a trend. Whats in

a name, in the case of Providence, is a

theological punch.

Providence in the way Roger Williams

and other settlers meant it is short-

hand for Divine Providence, a concept

that dates back to the birth of Western

monotheism.ough the exact theologi-

cal denitions of Divine Providence vary

depending on your preferred Judeo-

Christian sect, according to most, there

are two types: general providence,whereby a benevolent God keeps an eye

on the natural order of the universe, and

special providence, in which God di-

rectly intervenes in peoples lives.

It is this second kind of special prov-

idence that undergirds ideas of Ameri-

can Exceptionalism and Manifest Des-

tiny. It is also what allowed someone like

Williams to believe God acted specically

on his behalf to secure land in what is

now the Ocean State.

Viewed this way, providence acts

as a sort of dual optimism/fatalism

one believes that God has ones back,

and thats for the best. But if things go

wrong, the misfortunemust be attribut-

ed to the mysterious workings of Gods

will. Providence is a fairly convenient

base belief for those attempting to found

communities with as yet unpredictable

results in foreign territory.

e colloquial uses of providence

also betray this ambivalence. Accord-

ing to the Oxford English Dictionary,

providence can be used to mean thrift

and frugality in regards for the future

something the Puritans would have

sanctioned. It can also mean foresight,

provision, or a persons God-allotted

fate. Specically in New England, a

providence denoted that which is di-

sastrous but which is at the same time to

be regarded and submitted to as the act

of God.

VICE PONDER

tations, Providence as a place name has

meant more than geography and more,

even, than destiny. It represents an ex-

pectation of a certain kind of destinya

successful one, directed by a benevolent

God. And while providential success to

Roger Williams might have meant secur-

ing a bit of land along with his religious

freedom, for later providential pioneers

it meant territorial and material gain

rst, with a bonus halo of divine sanc-

tion to cover the moral rear.

Whether by act of God or man, Provi-

dences were in the money. Post-Wil-

liams, Providence, Rhode Island gainedwealth through the slave trade (another

vocation murkily justied via Christi-

anity). Providence, Ohio (now a ghost

town) was founded as a fur trading post

and grew rich on the gambling money of

travelers headed west. Isla de Providen-

cia supposedly still hides chests of pirate

treasure from its buccaneer days.

Contemporary Providences arent

lacking in wealth either. New Providence

in the Bahamas has been a luxury tourist

destination since the 1960s. Its capital,

Nassau, was once a pirate stronghold,

and now hosts cruise ship tourism-driv-

en casinos. A Princess brand luxuryhotel shares the suburb of Providence,

Guyana, with a newly built world-class

cricket stadium.

Stateside, Providences continue to

spring up around the countryand nor

are they named by accident. ese new

Providences are master-planned com-

munities, aimed at wealthy homebuy-

ers. And while (sub)urban development

isnt exactly analogous to 19th century

homesteader settlements, Providences

in Texas, Las Vegas, Florida, and Ala-

bama share the monikers historic asso-

ciations with righteousness and money.

Providence-as-site no longer means

simply divine foresight or even destiny.

Providence now means Luxury.

Not all Providences are markedly

richin New Providence, Iowa, for ex-

ample, the median household income

was $39,000 in 2000. But it is exactly

these small-town Providences that serve

as inspiration of the developers of the

planned communities. e Village of

Providence (within the Hunstville, Ala-

bama city limits) bills itself as lost Amer-

ican small-town charm revived in a con-

temporary city, perfect for those seeking

the comforts and conveniences of a

modern neighborhood with the values

and traditions of yesterday, according

to its real estate literature. (Providence,

AL also makes explicit reference to the

rst American city of Providenceit has

streets named ayer, Hope, and Meet-

ing, though these dont correspond geo-

graphically to the same streets here.)Developers market simplicity and

neighborliness (providential Christian

values) as tenets of their planned com-

munities, all while charging for access

to such idylls. From the simulated home

tour on its web site, comforts and con-

veniences of Providence Village life in-

clude neoclassical columns, grand pia-

nos, and canopied beds. e Providence,

Florida, website asks readers to check

a price range box (the lowest value is

$300,000) when submitting inquiries on

its contact form. Lighted tennis courts

and a 24-hour guarded entrance come

standard. Providence Village, Texas,shows oits lush lawns and a swimming

pool with waterslideall in the middle

of the desert.

ese Providences demonstrate a

drift from the thrift of the providen-

tial Puritans to the luxury of suede-

ensconced condo interiors. And while

this might seem a corruption of Roger

Williamss faith, providence as Manifest

Destiny, the pinning of Gods will to -

nancial successnone of these are alien

to certain geographic aspirations.

e founders of todays Providences

probably dont literally believe their cul-

de-sacs are informed by a divine hand. Yet McMansion builders that proclaim

freedom, family and beauty as their

motivatorsas the Providence Village

developers doare continuing the prov-

idential legacy. ese new Providences

may be nominal allusions to the divine

rather than literal evocations, but they

demonstrate an American sense of en-

titlement regarding land that dates back

to Roger Williams. Go on, they suggest,

God knows you deserve it.

SIMONE LANDON B10.5 on Corn

Dip Eve.

Place TraceAGeo-Historical

Account

ofProvidence

by Simone Landon

Illustratio nb

yRo be

rt Sandler


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THEINDY.ORG 12Arts

hen the term eco-fash-

ion gets tossed around,

it automatically conjures

up fears of dull eggplant

hues, rumpled organic cot-

tons, and neo-hippie macram accents.

For a while, this connotation was not

far from the truth. But in the past few

years, the disparity between sustainable

designers and the old industry favorites

has been diminishing. Companies like

Bodkin, Behnaz Sarafpour, and Edun,

founded by rocker-turned-human-

rights-martyr Bono and his wife, are at

the forefront of the war for sustainabil-ity in the fashion business. Sustainable

practices in the garment industry en-

compass any and potentially every step

of the manufacturing process. Switching

from chemical to natural dyes, sourc-

ing organic fabrics, and ensuring fair

wages and safe working environments

for workers all signify a more sustain-

able or environmentally conscious mode

of production. ese bigger lines may

be the famous faces of these emerging

practices, but the backbone supporting

them and revolutionizing the industry

from the bottom up is JF & SON, a small

New York-based textile and apparel de-sign team.

BUSINESS AS (UN)USUAL

JF & SON has been concerned with both

environmental and workers rights is-

sues since partners Jesse Finkelstein

B05 and Katie King founded the compa-

ny in 2007 as a vertically integrated tex-

tile project. After giving up on working

in New Yorks garment district due both

the rapidly closing studios and rising

prices, the two decided that the only way

they could stay aoat while staying con-

nected to the process was to start their

own studio overseas. It is in their facili-ties in Noida, India (just outside of New

Delhi) and, as of this summer, China,

where JF & SON strives to control every

aspect of the process while also relying

on local skills and materials. Finkelstein

and King travel to each facility once ev-

ery two months and Skype conference

with their manager every day. In India,

the process involves mostly beading and

dyeing artisanship by the 50 plus em-

ployees, while the China studio focuses

more on impeccable pattern making

and complex production. e company

markets these dierent skill sets to out-

side companies who then hire them for

textile development projects for outside

companies (Gary Graham, Opening Cer-

emony, Loden Dagger, and aforemen-

tioned Edun and Bodkin are among their

clientele). It also designs and produces

an in-house line that is sold at the labels

SoHo boutique.

Maintaining control of the manu-

facturing process aords the designers

creative freedom and opens every step

of the design and production process

up to collaboration. In an interview

with the Independent, Finkelstein sayse big experiment is to take the stu-

dio model of making clothes and see if

we can bring that to an actual working

production system. e studio model of

productionusually used for sampling

and specialized productsopposes the

hierarchical factory model in which one

unskilled laborer passes zipper after zip-

per to the next under the direction of a

designer or production manager. Instead

of mass-producing identical garments,

the studio produces pieces on an individ-

ualized level and thus necessitates par-

ticipation and exibility among skilled

workers. Oftentimes, explains Finkel-stein, this whole outsourcing thing, and

designers being further and further re-

moved from how their things are being

made and even sold, means you can turn

a blind eye to it all. With salaries over

three times the living wage and health

care for all, the workers at the Noida stu-

dio are, as Finklelstein calls them cre-

ative participants rather than workers.

It just so happens that the logic of

their structural goals ts directly into

the aesthetic goals of JF & SON. Katie

and I are modernist in the sense that we

believe that the process takes priority

over the

nal product.

e

nal productwill be powerful if the process is power-

ful. Its our belief that we have an aes-

thetic in mind, but we invite a lot of par-

ticipation and collaboration, so whatever

thing we have in mind gets reworked and

diluted and changed and altered. And at

the end of the day were responsible for

curating it, but its an aesthetic that re-

ally is born out of collaboration. Wheth-

er the aesthetic of collaboration or the

mode of collaborative production came

rst, neither would function were it not

for the other.

MAKE WHAT YOU KNOW, BUY

WHAT YOU KNOW

e companys mission is not limited to

their own operation. JF & SON is not

simply carving out its own niche sepa-

rate from the rest of the fashion indus-

try, it is leading the restructuring of the

entire manufacturing process. With a

revolutionary twinkle in his eye, Finkel-

stein relates his project to the current

demands of the food industry. People

want to know where their food comes

from. ere is a similar deepness going

on with clothing Anything that pro-

vides people with greater information

about how their stu is being made and

whos making it [is] empowering. People

design things, but they forget about the

other part of design, which is how they

actualize those things and the process by

which they are actualized.

e closer the designers get to the

production process, the less limited JF

& SON is to adhere to the traditional

organizational structure of the fashion

industry. Normally, a company has to

nish all designs months in advance in

order to comply with the correct season

(Spring, Pre-Fall, Fall, or Resort) andmust determine its market (Contempo-

rary, Advanced Contemporary, Designer,

Couture) so as to be distributed and

merchandised correctly. is system of

classication dates back to the late 19th

and early 20th century when interna-

tional retailers had to make a long trip

to Paris for fashion and seasons had to

be planned according to itineraries. e

categories remain in place today despite

the advances in technology and the

popular shift in everyday dress to an all-

inclusive, mix-and-match aesthetic. JF &

SON actively rejects systematization as

the process moves uidly from the stu-dios to the storefront, and even to the e-

commerce site. Flexibility is the name of

the game as everything from experimen-

tal textile samples to materials for new

projects to accessory prototypes con-

stantly rotates through the hands of dif-

ferent team members. As they shed the

rigid, dictatorial structure of the fashion

industry, lled with middlemen and ex-

tra costs, JF & SON is able to keep prices

from skyrocketing. A dress for $163, a

blouse for $88, these (believe it or not)

comparatively low prices start to explain

why they were able to open a store and

thrive during a

nancial recession thatcrippled the industry at large. at, or

the Finkelstein family home furnishings

company that makes novelty washcloths

for Ross Dress For Less.

HAVE YOUR CLOTHES AND

EAT THEM TOO?

All of this talk about vertical integration

and freedom from the tyranny of fashion

raises a series of questions that compare

JF & SON to none other than the ver-

tically-integrated, anti-fashion guinea

pig American Apparel. What makes JF

& SON dierent? In other words, why

will JF & SON work when rumors hint

at American Apparels impending bank-

ruptcy? Is it the fact that production is

overseas which maintains a large divide

between the consumers and the products

consumed? Is it the aesthetic produced

by the incorporation of and reliance on

local Indian and Chinese skill that main-

tains the clothings status as exotic and,

thus, fashion-forward? Could it per-haps be the sheer size of the company

with one tiny store, under-cover collabo-

rations with larger companies, and two

home-based leaders that creates an aura

of elitism on which the fashion industry

thrives? Or is it just a matter of time

until this model also fails, when dreams

of expansion turn into the inability to

monitor production or maintain stan-

dards? It seems as though balancing the

goals of sustainable practices, a close col-

laboration between the creative and pro-

duction process, anda progression from

the arbitrary codes of the mainstream

fashion industry might just be too muchfor one company to take on.

YOU CAN DO IT TOO

e people at JF & SON encounter cre-

ative energy on every level of the pro-

cess, from the design to the produc-

tion, and back to the merchandizing of

the store. Finkelstein describes that it

could not be done any other way. When

you work closely with people, at least

in our case, it becomes really clear that

people have their own creative skills

even the people who are sewing It just

makes sense. You want people to get in-

volved.

e ultimate goal is, in essence,to spread the responsibility and render

departmentalized production a collab-

orative process. e company does not

waste time and money on extensive PR

and proliferation of the brands image.

beyond the self-satisfaction of branding

and making money, to open up more

studios in more places, to open up more

stores. To become a company that gets

more people really actively involved in

the designing and the creation of the

clothes, like getting the customers to ac-

tively participate in the designing of the

goods.

EMILY FISHMAN B11spent the past

two summers working at JF & SON.

T H E A E S T H E T I C OF

by Emily Fishman

JF & SON Democratizes The Fashion Industry

C O L L A B O R A T I O N


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THEINDY.ORG 14Arts

Jean-Michel Basquiat (b. 1960) spray-painted poems signed SAMO (short for same

old shit) around Lower Manhattan before becoming the rst internationally acclaimed

African-American artist. Since he died of a heroin overdose at the age of twenty-seven,

praise for Basquiats work has grown exponentially, and in 2007, the record price for

a Basquiat painting was set at 14.6 million dollars. In part, the signicance of Bas-

quiats work stems from his rejection of classical and contemporary methods in favor of

a raw, sprawling technique that, upon rst impression, seems like an exploding collage

of scribbling and color. However, to view Basquiat solely within the canon of great art-

ists that came before him is to ignore the purpose and range of his work. His paintings

explore the complexity and hypocrisy of contemporary society, the diaspora of the indi-

vidual and the rich, often ignored history of Africa and African-Americans.

Basquiats meteoric rise from the New York no-wave/punk/hip-hop scene to the

top of the contemporary art community has made him something of a pop icon. e

new documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat:e Radiant Child, directed by Basquiats close

friend Tamra Davis (Half-Baked, Billy Madison and director of music videos by Sonic

Youth, Hanson and N.W.A.) illustrates Basquiat as even more complex and unr uly than

previous works have indicated. Basquiats close friends and art dealers oer fresh per-

spectives and revealing stories, but the lms nest moments come from a previously

unseen interview Davis lmed with Basquiat two years before his death. For the past

twenty years the footage has remained in Daviss closet. In an interview Davis explains

that she left the footage buried partially because she remained stricken with grief long

after Basquiats death, but also because she did not want to capitalize on Basquiats

fame (many of Basquiats close friends sold paintings he had personally given them).

Although there have been plenty of works on the artist (including a 1991 biopic), Da-

viss friendship with Basquiat creates the setting for an intimate interview, one that is

perhaps the best source for understanding Basquiat.

e lm begins in New York in the late 70s. After dropping out of high school and

running away from his home in Brooklyn, Basquiat sold postcards on the street and

slept on park benches. Although living hand-to-mouth makes a good story for any ac-

complished artist, in his interview with Davis, Basquiat becomes visibly upset as he re-

counts living on the streetshungry and without a place to go. Nevertheless, Basquiats

grati became notorious and soon he was invited onto Glenn O Brians TV Party, a

local cable access show that featured underground gures like Debbie Harry, e Clash

and Klaus Nomi. e show and his grati art propelled Basquiat into the underground

scene.e lm captures the energy and excitement of this period in New York, but also

demonstrates how it provided Basquiat with a community and condence that allowed

him to transition into painting.

His work garnered immediate attention and by 1982 he was showing regularly along-

side other notable contemporary artists such as Julian Schnabel and Francesco Clem-

ente. Yet as these artists were largely praised by critics, Basquiat remained the victim

of much criticism that often took patronizing, racist tones and portrayed him as the art

worlds negro mistress. His work began to reect this frustration and, in turn, reached anew level of complexity and magnitude. e lm expertly demonstrates how Basquiats

position as an African-American art celebrity tortured him, but also provided him with

a unique perspective that he was able to translate into art.

At a time when Basquiat did not know who to turn to, he made an unlikely friend in

Andy Warhol. From 84 to 86, the two collaborated on a number of spectacular works

that explored the dialogue between the individual and American iconography. However,

upon their release, the works were bombed by critics. More vulnerable and with more at

stake than the veteran Warhol, Basquiat was devastated and ed New York. During his

absence he slowly lost touch with Warhol and a year later Warhol unexpectedly died fol-

lowing gallbladder surgery. e shock sent Basquiat into depression and he began using

heroin again. Despite a number of attempts to quit, Basquiat died in his SoHo studio on

August 12th, 1988, at 27.

Although many of his fr iends discuss the end of Basquiats life, the lm avoids talk-

ing about his heroin use. His friends, all of who seem to share a bit of guilt over his

death, explain how caring and incredible Basquiat was, but the lm delivers the truesense of loss by demonstrating his talent and genius as an artist. Backed by a classic,

groovin hip-hop soundtrack and lled with anecdotes that explain his paintings, the

lm gives a new life to Basquiat and his work. Anyone interested in contemporary art or

New York in the late 70s/early 80s will enjoy the lm. Its most compelling aspect, how-

ever, is its opposition to notions of high arta stance true to Basquiats character. Since

his death, Basquiats work has been appropriated by the community and critics that

once rejected himhis work can only be seen in art books and museums. In turn, the

signicance and message behind Basquiats work has been lost. He purposely deed all

of the supposed rules of painting and still created amazing works of art, and as a result

demonstrated that African-American culture is equivalent in signicance and beauty to

its Anglo counterparts. e lm is important because it shows that art is neither created

by, nor belongs to those in charge of museums andNew York Times columns. Rather, it is

by and for the people. Jean-Michel Basquiat:e Radiant Childtakes Basquiat out of the

gallery and gives him back to the public. -EMF

Much ado has been made about the Facebook movie. Rolling Stone has already

said that the lm brilliantly denes the decade, while blogs and top reviewers rarely

refrain from dropping the word Oscar in overwhelmingly positive reviews. ats not

producer Kevin Spacey, director David Fincher (FightClub,BenjaminButton) and writ-

er Aaron Sorkin, creator ofeWestWing, how could the movie be bad?

It turns out the movie is very goodmaybe even greatbut it doesnt de ne the

decade (like Finchers portentous slacker hit Fight Club did) so much as utilize a crucial

moment to tell a story. at moment, of course, took place a mere seven years back

the Holy Grail of information technology, and a year later ended up as the worlds

youngest billionaire. Sorkin and most of his supportive critics have pitchede Social

Network as some kind of modern treatment on Citizen Kane or Howard HawksGreek

tragedy infused with American entrepreneurship.at source of inspiration holds for

the dramatized, partly ctional story, but the appeal as a lm is a bit more compli-

cated. A much riper analogy would be All the Presidents Men, the story of Carl Ber-

nstein and Bob Woodward who broke the Watergate scandal in 72. Both lms are a

back-story that beckons because we already know, or are heavily concerned with, the

headline story.

a college bar arguing over Marks obsession to get into a prestigious Harvard Finals

Club. Why? Because theyre exclusive, and fun. And they lead to a better life. e

ctionalized sequence ends with a breakup whammy from the girlfriend: Youre going

to go through life thinking that girls dont like you because youre a nerd. ats not

true. Itll be because youre an asshole.

And thus continues a string of events that, each and every time, avoid any one

explanation of why Mark is really doing what hes doing. Sore after the breakup, Mark

runs home and drunkenly retaliates at the female gender by coding up facemash.com,

a Harvard campus version ofhotornot.com. Within a couple hours the schools women

are put on a hugely public sliding scale, which gets Mark a deans hearing and about

half the school pissed oat him.

His name popping up around campus, Mark is then approached by two Aryan rower

socialites, the Winklevoss twins, both played deftly by Armie Hammer through the

use of digital editing. e twins have a deal for Mark: help them build their proto-Face-

book website called HarvardConnect, and theyll help him regain his social stature.

Maybe hell get to come to their really elite clubhouse, too. OK, so thats what Markwanted all along, right? But then he says screw the clubs, he can make a better website.

Not for money or fame or clubs, but because he can do it better. Mark gets his funding

from (now ex-) best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Gareld) and the initial success

ofthefacebook.com propels the two into school wide stardom.

is new website gathers interest. Enter Sean Parker, the former creator of Napster,

played by an ecstatic Justin Timblerlake (his midway entrance into the lm feels like a

double cameo). Parker gets wind ofthefacebook.com, calls Mark and Saverin for a 5th

Avenue meeting, and then drops the kicker to starry-eyed Mark: Yo, a million dollars

is cool, but you know whats really cool? A billion dollars.

ally just a big ger rise) matches those same stereotypes of enigmatic entrepreneurs be-

cause there is never any clarity to the end goal. Mark wants girls, Mark wants money,

Mark wants to be friends with famous people. None of those hold to the nale. Just

world more open. Its clearly scripted, but we cant fault the real life or ctional per-son for that. Because Mark, really, just wants to make a better Facebook. But that gets

confusing when the existence of Facebook is contingent on its investors (like every

character in the lm) being set on one of those much simpler fantasies.

Part of the experience of watching the lm is simply the question of what it really

has to do with Facebook, if the lm is verging on some great revelation about those

hours of looking and clicking. Sorkin himself admitted in an interview that he knew

about Facebook like he knew about a carburetor. And so in some ways the analogy

between the actual functioning Facebook as we [its users] know it and the plot of

the lm, doesnt go much deeper than what the title alludes to: that these characters

If anything thats to the benet of the nal product. e restrained grandeur of

the lm, with its soft colors and minimal eects (a far-cry from Finchers awesomely

oversaturatedZodiac) works because it is exactly the opposite of being on Facebook.Its a slow-paced melodrama, not some kind of frenetic postmodern commentary. If

Fincher had chosen denim blue and stark white as the lms color palette, it would

have been a disaster.

eres also a subtle sadomasochistic element to the lm. Whether we admit it or

not, many of usalthough certainly not allhave a love-hate relationship with Face-

book. Yes, it generates connections, keeps us in touch with far-away friends, strokes

the need to stay updated. And then the other common side-complaint: Facebook

wastes time. Its inherently unessential and supercial. e Faustian bargain of Face-

book is one that generates a lot of guilt and shame among many of its willing consum-

ers.

Which is why I dont think its digging too deep to say that theres a revenge-ick

appeal toe Social Network. ink of it as the inverse ofAll the Presidents Men. In-

stead of cheering on those intrepid journalists about to sack corrupt politicians, we get

to watch young, socially inept billionaire act like an asshole. Why is he a billionaire?

Because he created a program that we cant stop using.

The Social Network

Jean-Michel Basquiat:The Radiant Child

rotic speech, but when he sinks inside himself, when he looks like an exhausted vam-

pire. You cant help but feel a little sorry for the guy, even if recently released IMs show

ity/scorn of the elite is a near-universal trope in American media, but e Social Net-

work is a unique case where the distance is not so great. Try going to facebook.com/

zuck.AQR

Director: David Fincher

Director: Tamra Davis


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THEINDY.ORG

Metabolics

eared or poached, topped

with corn salsa or over

lentils, sashimi style or

in a maki roll: no matter

which way you serve it,

theres something shy

going on with salmon

these days.

AquaBounty, a company based out of

Waltham, MA, has presented a product

called AquAdvantage, a remixed ver-

sion of Atlantic salmon, to the Food and

Drug Administration (FDA). If it gets ap-

proved, AquAdvantage will be the rst

FDA approved genetically altered animal

to end up on our dinner plates.

FRANKENFISH

According to the plan put forth by Aqu-

aBounty, the new salmonor franken-

sh as it has been dubbed by criticsis

created when growth hormone from the

Pacic Chinook salmon is inserted into

Atlantic salmon eggs. is added gene,

combined with hormone regulators from

another sh, the ocean pout, allows for

rapid and continuous growth. e re-

sult is a sh that grows to market size

in about half the conventional timap-

proximately 30 months for farmed salm-on and between one to six years for wild

salmon.

e eggs would be grown in a facility

on Prince Edward Island in Canada and

then shipped to a land base in Panama.

ere the sh would grow to their full

size before being shipped to markets

all over the world. Only sterile females

would be produced, thanks to a process

called triploidy, whereby the organism

has three Y chromosomes instead of two.

is would ensure that the bred salmon

will be incapable of reproducing if they

were to escape into the wild or even har-

vested groups.

If the concept seems shocking, re-

member that for the past twenty years,

technology has inuenced not only how

we grow and raise our food, but the ac-

tual food itself. Scientists have tinkered

with soybeans, corn, and even oysters in

attempts to make versions that are dis-

ease resistant or more nutritionally ben-

ecial.

SO MUCH SALMON, SO LITTLE

TIME

In this case, AcquAdvantage insists that

the faster growth rate of the genetically

modied salmon is a more ecient useof capital by reducing feed costs as well

as creating jobs. It has been marketed

as a sustainable processa somewhat

ironic argument considering environ-

mentalist groups are often the ones

against such radical food alterations. e

company champions a reportedly lower

carbon footprint, as production facilities

can be built at on-land sites, reducing

transportation. In theory, the process is

able to be monitored, thus creating a re-

liable food source for the future. But one

must consider the kind of a system we

are trying to sustaina human-created

infrastructure of laboratory production,or the natural cycles of growth that the

Earth has to oer.

Meanwhile, shermen and foodies

around the country are protesting the

proposal, citing potential harmful eects

on theshing industry and infringement

on the market for conventional shed

salmon. Critics also fear the possible

propagation of allergies from potential

allergens present in the introduced gene

or in the feed used in salmon harvest-

ing. ey are also concerned about the

inltration of one of these mutant sh

into the wild, which could provoke un-

fair competition between the supersh

and normal salmon, who would quickly

be outeaten and outgrown. ough the

sterility of the triploid sh would osten-

sibly guarantee against cross-breeding,

the decimal point percentage chance of

creating a non-sterile salmon is enough

to cause concern. It only takes one for-

eign sh to wipe out or alter a popula-

tion entirely.

e taste factor seems to have been

ignored in the FDAs complicated and

extensive research endeavors. In fact, in

a 180-page document issued by the FDA

describing the production methods andtesting behind the debate, taste is not

mentioned once.

Chefs and foodlovers are not ignoring

the question of taste. Nino El Gheryany,

sushi chef at Shark restaurant in Provi-

dence has worked with sh for 22 years.

He rejects the idea of genetically altered

salmon, or any kind ofsh, on the ba-

sis that an accelerated growth time

would surely be detrimental to qual-

ity and taste. Other chefs ranging from

the Cheesecake Factory chain to haute-

cuisine restaurants in Las Vegas also

expressed concerns over customer pref-

erence and a commitment to natural,honest food. As AquAdvantage salmon

have not actually been eaten yet, we are

left wondering how much of a dierence

there will be.

16

GUESS WHOS COMING TO DINNER...

PROGRESS AND PRESERVATION

e Independent: You still live in the RI

area?

Doris Burke: I have a house in South

Kingstown and I have an apartment

here.

I: Do you see yourself staying?

DB: Oh, Im staying. I was a Jersey

kid through and through, and I never

thought Id call Rhode Island home. It is

home.

I: How involved are you at Providence

College now?

DB: As you could imagine, doing my job,

which is about 100 games a year, and my

two children, it hasnt left me much time

beyond those two things. I think the na-

ture of being a working mom is you have

two responsibilities: your job and your

children.

I: Your job at ESPN, on-game color com-

mentary, studio-analyst work, and occa-

sional sideline reporting is endless. How

often are you on the road?

DB: I dont count how many days Im

on the road, because it would upset me.

ere is no working woman today who

doesnt feel that pull, that tug: Am I do-

ing the right thing? But, you dont know

how many times I get the question:

What do you like better: the NBA, col-

lege, or women? And Im like: eyre

three entirely dierent sports. I loveeach and every one of them exactly the

same.

I: What are the dierences between the

mens and womens game right now?

DB: In the NBA, if a play is diagrammed

for a guy, nine times out of ten, that guy

is going to take the shot. Where women,

they might think of other options. If they

feel like theres a better option, theyre

likely to nd that option. It is starting

to change though. You have players like

Lauren Jackson, Diana Taurasi, and Cap-

pie Pondexter. Slowly but surely, wom-

ens mindsets are changing, taking overa basketball game. If youve got scoring

ability, is almost selsh not to take over

if you can.

I: e playos this year (e Seattle

Storm swept the Atlanta Dream to win

the title) were wonderful.

DB: I think the league is in a good place

from a competitive standpoint. ere

were nights when I was paid to watch

it during its rst year, as a NY Liberty

Radio announcer, and it wasnt good

basketball. In the 14-year history of the

league, that has changed. It has been an

UNCHARTERED TERRITORY

Scientic research so far has turned up

no signicant health risks, nor major

dierences between genetically modi-

ed salmon and the real deal. However,

tenuous words such as unlikely, seem,

and uncertainty pepper the scientic

conclusions, allowing room for doubt

in the future. Although scientists may

conrm for the moment that no signi-

cant risks are present, there is no telling

what sort of long-term eects may arise

impossible to completely regulate health

and environmental eects of such a syn-

thetic product.

A 60-day consultation period began

on September 19. Should approval be

given, the next issue is labeling. Grocery

shoppers have the right to know what

kind ofsh (or sh-like substance) they

are bringing home for dinner. But if no

signicant dierences between a geneti-

cally modied Atlantic salmon and na-

tures own product are found, companieswould be under no obligation to specify

the presence of transgenic salmon on the

packaging.

With arguments on both sides, the

debate largely comes down to ethics. Do

we have the right to trademark an organ-

ism? Do you want your dinner to be the

end result of a science project? Is Aqu-

aBounty the modern Prometheus, mess-

ing with technology as Dr. Frankenstein

did, unleashing eects impossible to

foresee? As our scientic potential in-

creases, and more and more possibilities

become realities, we have to come to a

decision about whenand ifit will allstop.

BELLE CUSHING B13 is saying no to

GMO.

easy target for talk show hosts to take

a shot at it: its not good basketball.

People have stopped paying attention

to it. Basketball fans need to take a look

again.

I: If the WNBA had been around, wouldthat have been something you would

have pursued?

DB: Absolutely. In fact, I had an oppor-

tunity to play professionally, but in the

nal year of my senior season I blew my

knee out.

I: Why does the WNBA need to stay rel-

evant?

DB: I have a daughter who is a freshman

sports fan at all. But, to me, the WNBA is

still important to my daughter because it

represents opportunity for women. And

Im hopeful the league survives. ereare days when Im concerned about it. I

think there are days when every player,

coach, and G.M. is concerned about it,

but Im hopeful.

I: You got to meet President Obama

at the White House this year, when

he lled out a Womens NCAA

tournament bracket for ESPN.

What was that like?

DB: I was channeling a

little Phil Jackson [coach

of the LA Lakers]. I was

reading the other day that

Phils stomach churns and feels nervous,

but he doesnt show it. Believe me, I was

nervous as heck.

I: You seemed extremely comfortable and

even joked when you met the President.

DB: Oh yes [laughs]. He says: So youplayed at Providence, can you still play?

I said, Mr. President, I tried to play six

weeks after I delivered my second child.

You know the expression the mind be-

lieves, but the body wont follow and

everybody in the room laughs. But then,

he asks me again: Can you play?, like he

President, I think I can handle your left

hand. And everybody starts nervous

laughing.

S

The advent

of genetically

salmonby Belle Cushing

Interview by Malcolm

Burnley

Illustration by Shay OBrien A conversation with Doris Burke, Provi-

dence College Alumnus and ESPN basket-

ball analyst for WNBA, NBA, and CollegeHoops coverage.


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r

FRIDAY | 1

7 PM

Cigar Night at Hillside Country Club.

A Jack Daniels Special Event that

starts with a gift bag at check-in and,

of Single Barrel Jack Daniels. For

FREE.

and tell a story, or just listen to braver

est Mouse totally changed your life.

Eleventh Annual Providence Rotary

Street Painting Festival. Profession-

dence. FREE.

Factory of Terror. I aint afraid of

Kicks and Streetwear. At the Rhode

Island Convention Center, 1 Sabin St.

Rock & Roll Yard Sale. DIY vinyl

Ricecakes, Detroit Rebellion, The

Mercans, and a BSR DJ-ed dance

Pawtucket. FREE.

4 PM - 7 PM

and New Paintings by David Planka;

Mickey Zacchilli and Natalja Kent;

Youth Studio. FREE. Pearl St. Fall

But he saves sick people. Brown Uni-

bosset St. Providence. FREE.

we care about is getting drunk and

Providence.

Air and the rise of right wing radio.

Providence. FREE.

THURSDAY | 7

Playwriting Festival. Including plays

has everythingpeace, prosperity

PhotobyJohnFisher

The College Hill Independent September 30

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Transcript of The College Hill Independent September 30