#BLDB: The Pink Phase
Pink like the paradise found
Pink when you're blushing inside, baby
Pink is the truth you can't hide, maybe
Pink like the folds of your brain, crazy
Pink as we all go insane
The Black/White aesthetic of “The Black Living Data Booklet” acts as a representation of the binary, whether that be binary thinking, binary code, or the oft stated racialized binary of Black and White America. The juxtaposition of these two colors conveys the harsh realities of truth and untruth, what is hidden and what can be exposed. Playing with the binary by visually reproducing it, The Black Living Data Booklet focused on how to decode data and the role that histories of oppression, institutions, and socio-cultural programming plays into how we collect, curate, and critique information and data. The booklet ends with a series of demonstrations which disrupt how we usually do data to create content through a focus on care and communities.
While this aesthetic was important to convey in Phase 1 of the project, in light of the grief and despair of the current moment, I have been projecting my mind into a new paradise of possibility. Therefore, the latest phase of The Black Living Data Booklet (#BLDB) is The Pink Phase, a production focused on affect, embodiment, and pleasure. This phase of the project offers messages that question and console through the consideration of media, information, and technology.
When I look at the color pink I am happy because pink reminds me of childhood and crafting. The image that comes to mind is cutting out pink hearts for Valentines Day or dressing up in pink costumes and ballet shoes. The Pink Phase is at its heart a message of love to the inner child in a world gone a bit mad. Existing wholly outside of the binary of Black/White the Pink Phase exists in a world all its own. A world of magic and wonder that disrupts the mundane and pleases the senses. Pink is shocking in its position against the black/white binary. Expanding beyond the understanding of pink as a feminine signifier, what does it look like to view pink as a signifier for whimsy and world-building?
Each installment of the Pink Phase will focus on visual images and text that convey messages with feeling. As love to the inner child, the messages of the Pink Phase focus on play, self-care, and imagination. Through this offering, I hope that we can all work through our own pink phases that make space for a wanderland that leads us through this time of uncertainty.
