Me - You - ThemOver 3 years from 30 June 2001 to 30 June 2004, Alana Jelinek's Dear Diary recorded day to day experiences of racism - as observer or bystander, as a victim of racism and as a racist. "Racist actions affect me both as a victim and as a perpetrator. It is with honesty and meticulous care to my truth that I am trying to record this diary. "Over the course of this project I record my own racist thoughts, conscious or barely conscious, and the actions of individuals around me. "The parameters of the project also include media racism or racism on TV or newspapers. I believe this has as much an effect on my life as a direct or personal encounter and therefore should be included. Over time, I chose to watch less and less news on TV and never read newspapers, regardless of their "quality" or politics, because media racism in the news is daily and constant and I didn't want that to be the focus of this artwork. "There is no fiction in the site - except for the sense that any narrative where a life is framed is fictive. I am trying to be honest and open, as difficult and ugly as that may be at times. I don't think I have lost any friendships, but I know it has been difficult for friends and people I love. No one I know likes to have their actions or words understood in terms of racism, including me. Even when it's true."
Alana Jelinek 2004
|