Reflection

Initially, I had wanted for there to be a page dedicated to notable conflicts and historical events, but then I realized as I was writing the pages for the history of punk in LatAm and the US that I didn't need a whole separate page. Because all of the notable events I had planned of discussing were already being covered in two other pages. So that page was chopped, and honestly for the better because it would've been too much.

I wanted to have a place for my thesis, as well as a place to explain what the exhibit was about separate from the actual About. I also wanted to have a content warning and a quick explanation for some of the language I used (Latino, Chicano, Latine/Latinx, etc.), which is why I added an Overview as the first page of my site. But then I decided to move my thesis to the Appeal/Why We Should Care section because I would've been reiterating the same thing from my Overview. Still kept the Overview, because I still needed to explain stuff.

I may be the only person who has a content warning on their exhibit as I was going around during the gallery walk no one else seemed to have one. In this current age, content/trigger warnings come with this sort of baggage and discussion that rubs me the wrong way. Some people say that people should suck it up, to stop "being special snowflakes," or that it gives spoilers. I think to an extent, it can be too much. It's hard to tell what will or won't affect someone's experience, so I've seen people overtag their warnings and it can clutter. But I think it can be insensitive to not add a warning, especially when it pertains to topics that may negatively impact their experience. There's also the fact that just looking at my topic at face-value, you likely wouldn't expect stuff like terrorism to be relevant. The content warning isn't supposed to stop people from looking at the site.

Even if my exhibit doesn't go that deep into graphic content, if at all, I want to make a space where people can go without feeling like they're being made fun of not wanting to engage with a particular content, or needing to take a moment to pause. I want to place the power in their hands.

I am saying this all as someone who usually doesn't check content warnings, since I'm usually able to go through sudden sensitive subject matter being brought up without it negatively affecting me mentally. But there isn't anything wrong with have a preemptive warning. Sometimes, I do need to have a content warning. During my research process for Operation Condor, I came across an interview with a photographer during that period who talked about his experiences during that period. There were no warnings on the article that some of the photos in question had dead bodies. The photos weren't graphic as they were taken from a distance, but I was not anticipating seeing it and I felt a little panicky before I continued scrolling.

I decided to go with chronological with my exhibit, but allowed for flexibility to go for something more thematic. A lot of these bands and events were happening at the same time, or there wasn't a specific start-end date so I had to have some leeway with the chronology. I also kept getting conflicting dates for some bands? Like I found three Argentinan pages with information about Los Violadores and I got three different dates on when they formed? I decided on 1980, which is the date that CMTV gives, as a good mid point between the other dates I found (1978 and 1983).

To show off one of the visualizations I creted and to give a spotlight, I made one for specifically LGBT artists in the punk scene and it serves as a good jumping off point from the older bands to new artists as it features artists who were prominent in the scene in the 70s-90s who are still relatively active now.

Then it's the current state of Latino punk, to show that the scene is still active now with new bands coming in who are upholding the core beliefs of the culture.

I wanted to a small selection of music, music videos, performances, and more so I can spotlight more artists who I could not do in the other parts of the exhibit. I also needed a place to have the playlist I had created that wasn't the Overview. This section is fairly small when it comes to the videos because I already have so many other videos linked throughout the site.

Finally, it's the Appeal and Why We Should Care, which is my thesis and why the scene had attracted so many people but still remained undiscussed outside of certain circles.

I have....a lot of information. If I wasn't overwhelmed with other classes, I would've discussed more on the history of rock in the Americas and gone into specific countries and how it evolved into the punk scene in LatAm and the US. I felt that at every turn, I found more and more information. I mean, I am talking about two large regions. There is a lot of video interviews and whole documentaries, and I struggle with video-based content sometimes if it doesn't captions and I couldn't find the time or energy to look through them to add them into what I already had. I also had to do some translating, which means I had to ask my parents since I got lost with certain words or slang. I used machine translated once for a Portuguese word I encountered. I'm able to sort of decipher without a translator with Portuguese, but I can get overwhelmed. I think that's something I should've seeked out help for, because I felt like I neglected Brazil due to the language barrier. And I feel like it shows in some places that there is something more.

I feel like it's a cope out to say that people should explore beyond what I have because it sounds like I can hand wave away any holes in my project. But I am one person, and this is a topic that spans multiple generations, borders, and languages with a lot of history within the scene itself and outside. It's not just the history of punk, but of geopolitics, fashion, the evolution of music, ideologies, and more. I tried my best to include as much information so people don't feel like they came out of the experiences with more questions than answers, which will ten discourage them to look more into Latino punk. But even if I did make the site completely comprehensive, I would still encourage people to look for themselves because I want them to receive the same curiosity, anticipation, and joy I had when clicking around link after link about new artists and topics.

While I listened to a lot of Latin punk while doing the bulk of my research process, I didn't too much when assembling all my information on the site. Instead I listened to Cibo Matto's Viva! La Woman on repeat with some Japanese rock and Latin punk interspersed. Probably should've listened to it more while working, but oops.