Conceived in 2021, this film records the union movement in a city where I feel the most, Chicago. Through this film, I tried to understand how unionism works in the art sector and how it deeply impacted workers, students, and the faculty in the art and educational institutions. I also tried to convey an institutional critique that the labor union might decolonize the white space that has been established from the top-down labor structure. Throughout the film, I recorded personal testimonials, protest footage, and pictures of the inside of the museum with a handheld technique that had a personal touch on the film. I also used a cutout animation that could demonstrate what might have happened in the room that wasn’t visually recorded. At the time, I was able to have a great distance from the issue and still able to get access to these stories because not only was I a student but also many workers, teachers, and students were kind enough to allow me to be there. I hold this project dear to my heart.

 

Currently, this project is going through a post-production phase. With a very talented sound artist Noah Franche-Nolan, this project is looking for a new editor and a producer to look over the edits and correct the colors. I look forward to publishing this work over a wider platform so that this story of resilience and power, love, admiration, art, blood, sweat, and tears can be told to many generations to come in the next years.