Unit 15: London Project
This is my Project Proposal, which has been written in line with the Daiwa Foundation Small Grants application guidelines. So, please have a glance over those before reading.
More broadly, I have ensured that this proposal can be adapted for potential co-creators and collaborators (e.g. Department H, contributors, web designers and funding partners) should it be required.
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Underlined text contains hyperlinks to relevant sections or external websites. Be aware that some hyperlinks will open in this page (right-click and 'open in a new tab' to avoid this).
DON'T ASK, JUST COME: Proposal
SECTION A
PROJECT LEADER
First Name Shannon
Last Name(s) Val Stocker
Role Archivist, Don't Ask, Just Come
Contact shannon.v.stocker@gmail.com
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SECTION B
PROJECT PARTNER
First Name Gogh
Last Name(s) Imaizumi
Role Founder, Department H
Contact @goghimaizumi
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Collaboration to be confirmed.
Click here to find out more about Imaizumi's role as collaborator.
SECTION C
OTHER PARTNERS
First Name Michael & Yoshiko
Last Name(s)N/A
Role Translator (English-Japanese, Japanese-English)
Contact PeoplePerHour profile
Additional Information £45 for 500 words
Artists
Department H performance artists and UK-based creatives will be involved in the Digital Residency programme; click here to find more information about the programme and who will be involved.
SECTION D
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Department H
Department H is a monthly underground drag and fetish event in Tokyo, Japan. Returning from America in the 1990s, illustrator Gogh Imaizumi, realised that safe spaces reserved for experimentation in interest and identity did not exist in his native Japan. Inspired by the fetish parties he attended in New York, Imaizumi created Department H at Kinema Klub, Tokyo to allow for those with interests and identities outside of social normalcy to embrace their distinctiveness. Eclectic in their curation, Department H hosts performance artists, from drag queens to lesbian wrestling, small workshops and DJ sets. Allowing those with hidden curiosities to become a part of a community of likeminded individuals. A concept that is titillated by the intriguing tagline of 'Don't Ask! Just Come...'. Department H is an encouragement for individuals to grow and become confident in who they are, within an environment that is free of pressure and judgement.
In the current circumstances of a global pandemic, whereby lockdown measures are affecting sites of community engagement, Department H is continuing to provide space for their community in the form of a livestream version of their monthly event.
Curatorial Statement
Don’t Ask, Just Come is a living archive celebrating the cultural and historical value of Department H; an ongoing effort to establish a collective memory bank of cherished, intangible memories. As a publicly accessible platform, the archive works to promote international understandings of underground drag and fetish communities by presenting a variety of anecdotal and documentative media, inclusive of audio, illustration, photography, interviews and videography. All accessions within the archive are viewed simultaneously in a diverse and chaotic nature reflective of Department H’s personality.
Taking the shape of a digital collage, Don’t Ask, Just Come questions the traditional linearity of digital archives by recreating the process of researching the disordered contents of a physical archive box. Merging the tangibility of traditional methodologies with the technology-driven reality of today. As well as, bridging the gap between the physical and digital sites of community engagement created by Department H. The archive invites visitors to view the accessions in an order that is personal and uniquely theirs. Conceptually exploring the archive continuum, the theory that archival activity is a multidimensional, ongoing practice, by encouraging visitors to enact chance encounters from which subjective narratives are formed. Thus, allowing the archive to rely solely on the act of viewing and questioning in order to encourage self-education and self-exploration. A starting point for deeper research into the layers of meaning, personal stories and enactment beyond what is visible. Don’t Ask, Just Come is a site of appreciation for underground cultural forms and a recognition of the curiosity that lives within us all.
Curiosity was foundational in the formation of Department H. The event itself is an inquisitive act inspired by cultural exchange and experimentation with identity. Don’t Ask, Just Come fosters this curiosity, and its ability to unite communities, by engaging with artists in a quarterly Digital Residency within the confines of the archive. Whereby UK-based artists work virtually with Department H to appreciate and engage with Tokyo drag and fetish culture. Through diverse forms of expression, the artists-in-residence document their continued exploration of their own positionality and relationship to those communities. The artist-in-resident nominates their successor, in a self-selecting chain that cultivates a UK community to mirror the founding of Department H as an exercise in intercultural understanding. Through this act of bringing people together Don’t Ask, Just Come is continually acknowledging the significance of safe spaces for underground culture to thrive and be understood as valuable assets for future generations.
SECTION D5
GRANT REQUEST
Grant Request
Don't Ask, Just Come is requesting a grant of £1,700.
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This grant would cover all expenses for one year in the following categories: creative, accessibility, marketing, equipment, and residency. A table of costs is provided below and proposed suppliers are documented in the 'Funding' section of this site. With this grant our full budget would be covered for an entire year; allowing for the website to go live with a professional, personalised domain, translation of key information to allow for English and Japanese language speakers to engage with the archive, and four artists-in-residence to get all of the support they need.
Budget
There are a small number of costs related to this project. These can be divided into the following five categories: creative, accessibility, marketing, equipment and other.
A budget management spreadsheet (see below) has been established and costs have been outlined. Potential funding has been identified.
Prototype
This is the final prototype for the website design of Don’t Ask, Just Come. It was created using wix.com. This prototype does not have all of the collected content, its provenance or glossary terminology included. No external submissions have been made yet nor has active collection or translation begun. This simply documents the achievability of realising the archive and its intended visualisation.
Previous web development software have been trailed and reviewed.
SECTION E1
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Don’t Ask, Just Come arose as a direct response to a project brief centred on London communities in my final year of study at Central Saint Martins, UAL. Initially, the project was centred on a physical exhibition connecting the Tokyo and London drag scenes, in an effort to promote intercultural communication between the two sister cities and their communities. It felt important to build bridges of mutual understanding between the two cultures through the facilitation and strengthening of an empowered, globalised community. A sentiment that has become more pertinent in the face of travel restrictions, resultant of the COVID-19 pandemic, that are continuing to make physical encounters impossible.
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I previously benefited from the self-reflection and self-discovery that a cross-cultural research process can enable, when I autoethnographically explored the Japanese subculture yami-kawaii. Thus, I strove to make that process more accessible to individuals outside of academic institutions who remain interested in the value of discussion and exchange. Archives are important in the preservation of intangible histories that would otherwise be lost, to distant memory or the overwhelming systems of knowledge. To safeguard valuable cultural and historical experiences is to provide an inclusive and educational space for those who are curious of interests and identities outside of their social spheres. Department H’s dedication to providing a safe space for those interested in underground drag and fetish, to encounter and experiment with those communities, is an important asset to protect. Don’t Ask, Just Come exists so that inquisitive minds across geographical and generational boundaries have a place to self-educate and experiment.
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The additional creation of a Digital Residency that sits within the archive is a unique asset. It proposes the formation of London-based community in parallel to Department H, wherein the artists-in-residence nominate their successor from their own local network to build an organically evolving community of likeminded individuals. The archive and its digital residency programme work together to support the sharing of identities amongst similar communities and across geographical boundaries.
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A diary of development updates was kept to document how the project evolved and adapted to new challanges.
SECTION E2
SUMMARY
Don’t Ask, Just Come is a living archive positioned as a site of research and outreach. It functions as a public website created collaboratively with Department H and its community. As the archivist, I will be actively collecting documentative accessions and oral histories to ensure that the archive continues to embody the personality of the event as a contemporary cultural asset. This will be achieved virtually and collaboratively with Gogh Imaizumi. The website itself has already been developed using wix.com, a cloud-based web development service, and is almost ready to go live. It is inclusive of digitised accessions formulated as an interactive collage, relevant information (i.e. the curatorial statement, residency information), and a thematic glossary. With your funding we will be in a position to increase accessibility by hiring a translator to ensure that all information and video transcription is provided in English and Japanese. This will allow the project to mediate the two cultural understandings of the communities.
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Conceptually, the site has been developed to emulate a physical archive collection, or personal memory box. It is a digital version of riffling through the accessions and encountering each one selectively, with a personal intent. The 'About' information and 'Glossary' section are intended to aid self-education, and as such do not provide a set narrative for the visitor. It is purposefully simple, making it producible without a UX designer.
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Without funding, the research function of Don’t Ask, Just Come will remain attainable. Yet, Don’t Ask, Just Come also benefits visitors as an active site of outreach, which is the aspect where your funding will make the biggest difference. The Digital Residency that functions inside of the archive will work to create a London-based communal space for the discovery and experimentation of underground drag and fetish. That community-building will be led, primarily, by Department H performance artists and serve as a bridge between the UK and Japan. For artists-in-residence and Department H’s performers this will be a valuable opportunity for personal growth, development of new skills and network expansion. While those who view the regular digital residency exhibitions will be reminded of the significance of safe spaces for non-mainstream culture to thrive and be understood as valuable assets for future generations.
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SECTION E3
BENEFITS
Due to go live in January 2021, Don’t Ask, Just Come is a space that exists for nostalgia and primary research. It is a living archive, rather than an exhibition, to ensure that the narrative stays in the hands of those who exist within it. Those in the UK, who are interested in the diverse nature of drag and fetish, can access a likeminded community that may inspire their own action. They may directly connect with Department H, create similar events in the UK, or be inspired to be artistic or performative in new ways.
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The Digital Residency is disseminating the values of Department H, as a supportive, empowering community. It is an offering of time, space, and community-led support for artists interested in, or currently engaging in, practices involving drag or fetish communities. The benefit of which is nurturing artists and promoting artists outside of their locale, while facilitating an inspiring, engaging exchange between existing communities in Japan and the UK. The artists-in-residence will document their thoughts, experiences and engagement with the archive and its wider community. Alumni of the programme will be encouraged to keep in contact with the network they develop during the residency through Don't Ask, Just Come's programme of virtual and physical meetups. Thus, building bridges between two cities through the facilitation and strengthening of community groups.
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For Don’t Ask, Just Come to progress, I will work closely with Gogh Imaizumi going forward to grow the archive organically through his network. I plan to commission Imaizumi to capture a short audio or video recording of his own personal account of the creation of Department H; to inspire young people to reflect upon and positively activate their own intercultural experiences. As I am moving to Japan later this year, I will visit Department H, experience an event first-hand, and speak with its community. I want to connect with the performance artists, and hopefully engage in new collaborative opportunities in the future to promote their artistic practice further, perhaps co-curating physical exhibitions alongside them.
SECTION F
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Audience
This project has a planned target audience of London-based millennials who are specifically interested in the themes of drag, fetish, LGBTQ+ and Japanese culture, and the intersections within. These are prevalent topics within the archiving of Department H as a community of drag and fetish performers and audiences. The Don't Ask, Just Come target audience are such because of their existing vested interest in these communities and the subsequent high potentiality of those individuals wanting to educate themselves on the topics further. The creation of a London-based community through the Digital Residency may appeal to those who are not directly involved in the residency, but are based in London, and want to get involved in any events or community-building exercises. Though Don't Ask, Just Come is not just for those based in London, it makes sense to start marketing there because of the potential physical involvement in the new community. Instagram, the millennials favoured social media platform, has a paid post option that can directly target account holders with who follow accounts serving those interest groups.
To support the marketing strategy (which is still in development), a survey was carried out amongst a select group of those within the target audience prior to the website's development. The results can be found by clicking here.
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Ethics Statement
This project will be conducted with full compliance to research ethics norms, and more specifically, being a digital archive, will meet the expected standards for internet safety as made explicit through the UK Safer Internet Centre. The centre has advised large social media platforms on how to ensure that their platforms are safe and free from inappropriate content, and such recommendations have been shared through their own website. This includes unsolicited photographs and exposure of personal information, both of which could become pertinent issues through external submissions of media content.
In order to follow best practise and ensure that Don’t Ask, Just Come is a safe space for sharing and preserving media, I will request consent forms from those who submit digital media and/or ensure that photographers / videographers have received consent from those who appear in their media. Being documented and submitting materials are and will remain voluntary actions, and pressure will not be applied to members of the Department H community or affliliated parties who do not wish to share their documentations, performances, image/likeness or thoughts through the archive. Contributors will retain the intellectual property rights to their digital media, as the archive acts as ‘storage’ of accessions (or a collective memory bank) rather than pertaining to own the community’s narrative – that remains their own.
There will also be a contact email address available on the ‘About’ section for those with intellectual property and privacy concerns or complaints. As mediator of the site, I will moderate content that is submit via email and ensure that the guidelines are met before the media is uploaded to the archive.
