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#042 Independent Project

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#041 Independent Project

Reflective statements:

In the project, I delved into a multifaceted exploration of historical events, ideologies, and social movements that have shaped our world. The focal points of Nazi Germany, the language of the Third Reich, racism, Black Lives Matter, anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust provided us with a comprehensive lens through which to scrutinize the consequences of invasion under the umbrella of serious regime and totalitarianism.

Throughout this journey, I have grappled with the complex interplay between regimes, racism, and propaganda policies. The examination of the Nazi government and the language employed during that era highlighted how words can be weaponized to manipulate public sentiment, perpetuate prejudice, and justify heinous actions. This observation resonates in contemporary contexts, prompting consideration of the power dynamics inherent in language and its potential impact on society. The juxtaposition of historical events, such as the Holocaust, with present-day movements like Black Lives Matter, compelled me to reflect on the cyclical nature of injustice and the importance of collective awareness in breaking these cycles.

This project underscored the imperative of understanding history to inform our present and shape a more equitable future. It prompted me to question whether invasion, as an extreme expression of power, is inherently absurd or if it is a manifestation of deeper societal issues. This reflection deepened my appreciation for the role of critical thinking in navigating the complexities of historical narratives and their implications for contemporary society.

Overall, as I continue to learn and understand these events, I am more aware of the responsibility we bear in learning from the past to actively shape a world that embraces the values of justice, empathy, and equality.

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#40 Independent Project

Project Introduction

Congratulations on becoming a docile species! On behalf of the New Century Species Community, we welcome you and wish you all the best. We have always welcomed you from all over the world and value your contributions. These groups continue to enrich all aspects of the New Century and preserve its free opportunities and heritage. As you work towards this goal, please take a moment to learn about us, our history and our institutions. From now on, it is not only your right but your responsibility to develop our future and ensure its success.

It is a "meaningless" regime. Ridiculous, fabricated, compulsive and repetitive discourses are conveyed through authoritative media. The project aims to critique racist propaganda discourses and policies and to reflect on whether "invasion" is just an absurd act under a serious regime?

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#039 Independent Project

Behind Every Name a Story

I composed these cards based on the words collected from the previous research, telling about their experiences in the war and invasion. There is also some website information where you can find specific stories.

Finally, what I want to convey is that the purpose and role of propaganda and discourse can be positive.

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#038 Independent Project

For some people, "opposition movements and protests" may represent freedom of speech and social equality. to others, they reflected a self-indulgent, pointlessly rebellious, unpatriotic, and destructive assault on the country's traditional moral order.

However, I believe that the non-violence advocated by the "anti-war" and "peace" movements, the resistance to war, and the exposure to the invasive crimes of war are all we have in common goals: The pursuit of peace, security, human rights and equality.

While the "anti-war" movement often has a short-term goal of opposing the policy decisions of states to engage in armed conflict and wage war, the "peace" movement generally has a long-term goal of --Peaceful lifestyles and policies.

The peace movement is characterized by the belief that humans should not wage war engage in ethnic cleansing about language, race, or natural resources, or engage in ethical conflict over religion or ideology. Long-term opponents of war are characterized by the belief that military power does not equal justice.

Even though the Holocaust left behind a large amount of evidence and documents, it cannot stop some countries and people from denying it.

Those who distort, deny or question the historical truth of the Holocaust assert that the murder of approximately six million Jews during World War II never occurred and that the gas chambers at Auschwitz never existed.

During World War II, civilian deaths reached unprecedented numbers, but today, some countries still create wars and provoke racial confrontation. Not only does military power not equal justice, it also does not equal strength.

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#037 Independent Project

One Thousand and Seventy-eight Blue Skies

These skies show blue skies photographed above Nazi concentration camps and extermination centres. Photographer Anton Kusters took these images between 2012 and 2017, travelling throughout Europe. Each photograph is stamped with the GPS coordinates of its location and the number of victims who entered that camp.

The Holocaust, offers a chronological narrative of the Holocaust through historical artifacts, photographs, and film footage.

From the rise of the Nazis in Germany in 1933 until the outbreak of World War II. The evolution of Nazi policy is also examined in this exhibition, and at the end we can see video testimonies from survivors.

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#036 Independent Project

Baruch Spinoza compared human free will to a stone that thinks it has chosen its flight path and landing point.

He said: "There is no absolute value or free will in the mind. The will of the mind is determined by one factor, and this factor is determined by another factor, and then another factor, and then another factor, and so on indefinitely. People believe they are free because they understand their own will and desires and ignore the factors.”

Therefore, I wanted to place these newspapers as a factor in the public scene.

Do these newspapers change the minds of readers? In the case of invasions and racist incidents, is the inevitability of their occurrence independent of anyone's free will? Or is it based precisely on human free will?

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#035 Independent Project

In a traditional sense, a newspaper is also a symbol that carries certain connotations as a carrier of information and is authoritative, reliable and instantaneous. Most newspapers have a long history, and in some countries are sponsored by the government, and have influence and prestige among the public. Therefore, advertisements published in newspapers tend to generate a sense of trust among consumers.

So I first tried the process of printing a newspaper:

The paper of a newspaper is generally thin so it is also easy to store and portable and reusable. Therefore it also has the value of recording events and some people also cut out the information from the newspaper and keep it.

I printed these in two separate sizes; 260mmx185mm and 289mmx380mm and cropped them. When I was considering whether or not I needed a binding method, I experimented with collating the complete content with metal ring clasps. However, I realised that the newspaper is basically without the need for complicated binding and is best presented naturally.

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#034 Independent Project

Content structure

I tried to add words that are suggestive, inducing, infectious, and persuasive to this "meaningless" regime propaganda.

v1: "HOW TO GET A NUMBER?"

v2: "YOUR DUTIES"

v3: "OUR VOICE"

v4: "FOLLOW OUR CODE"

v5: "PROTECT YOUR SAFETY"

v6: "YOU ARE ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS!"

These messages all promote how to join and become a "docile species". In the "How to get a number?" section, I included reports on "invasive" species and guided people to eradicate them. In the section "Your Duties" I emphasise the responsibilities of being an "identity", which you have to follow if you want to maintain a permanent identity. "OUR VOICE" emphasises the laws and policies of the regime, and here I have added the linguistic features of the Third Reich, such as "Welt" (world) and "ewig" (eternity). The section "PROTECT YOUR SAFETY" promotes the historical "invasions" under the false regime. Finally it conveys that if you join then "You are on the road to success!"

As regimes that invade other countries, their discourse is absurd, and they use serious institutions for destruction and exploitation. An "anti-Semitic" poster, a "social justice" magazine, and a board game, all seemingly small propaganda that permeates every aspect of life as a result of these discourses.

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#033 Independent Project

Why were there identity distinctions under the Nazi regime? The Nuremberg Race Laws were undoubtedly racially discriminatory. As you can see on the chart this form divided the population carefully, they believed that different races did not have the same power and value. The Aryans were the most powerful and valuable of all races. The Nuremberg Laws were implemented to protect the Aryans and to protect and strengthen Germany. Passports issued to a German Jewish couple were stamped with a "J", which was like a number for Jewish identity.

So I laid out a "How to get a number?" propaganda message. It's based on collected reports and Nazi words.

What was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor? The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor was a law against what the Nazis viewed as race-mixing or “race defilement” (“Rassenschande”). It banned future intermarriages and sexual relations between Jews and people “of German or related blood.” The Nazis believed that such relationships were dangerous because they led to “mixed race” children. According to the Nazis, these children and their descendants undermined the purity of the German race.

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#032 Independent Project

After conducting research during this period, I realised that my direction should be to reflect on 'war and invasion', so I have made a summary of the invasions I have researched so far, which will help me think about the presentation of the entire project.

I think that mastery of discourse and propaganda tools is a key point under the regime, so my design content should include different parts of what I have researched, such as Nazis, refugees, defectors, racism, and so on.

I plan to divide my thoughts into three parts:

P1:

In the first part, I want to convey the oppression and exploitation of the government in the "invasion", so I will use newspapers to create a "meaningless" regime or institution. I convey ridiculous, fabricated, forced, and repetitive words through a medium that symbolizes authority. Reflect on whether "invasion" is just an absurd act under a serious regime?

P2:

How to choose?

P3:

Finally, I want to use propaganda to convey opposition to "invasion and war."

First of all, I was thinking about how to express a "meaningless" regime. how should the content be organised?

In the previous research, symbols were mentioned several times, such as the Star of David and the yellow badge. So I wondered if I could start by designing a symbol?

So I tried to create a symbol of power with the "docile species".

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#031 Independent Project

DEGENERATE ART EXHIBITION

When I learned about Nazis symbols and symbols, I saw this museum of degenerate art. The full name of this exhibition is 'Schandausstellungen' (condemnation exhibitions), which includes "Chamber of Terror", "Art in the Service of Subversion", "Degenerate Art".

The art gallery organised by the Nazis served only one theme - the purification of the so-called degenerate culture. The gallery was filled with works that they considered depraved, characterised by "decadence", "weakness of character", "mental illness" and "racial impurity".

The extremism of the Nazis was evident in art and culture, which Hitler had announced the day before the exhibition as a "ruthless war of cleansing against the last elements of our cultural decomposition", attacking "amateurs and art charlatans". Any work that insulted German sensibilities or destroyed belonged to degenerate art. At the same time, Hitler denounced modern art and its practitioners as "incompetent, liars and madmen" and declared that there would be no place for modernism in the Reich.

Perhaps some people at the time agreed with the Nazis' purge of degenerate art. However, we have to consider whether this choice was controversial in the larger political context.

Layout: The first three rooms were grouped thematically. The first room contained works considered demeaning of religion; the second featured works by Jewish artists in particular; the third contained works deemed insulting to the women, soldiers and farmers of Germany. The rest of the exhibit had no particular theme. There were slogans painted on the walls. For example: Insolent mockery of the Divine under Centrist rule Revelation of the Jewish racial soul An insult to German womanhood The ideal—cretin and whore Deliberate sabotage of national defence German farmers—a Yiddish view The Jewish longing for the wilderness reveals itself—in Germany the Negro becomes the racial ideal of a degenerate art Madness becomes method Nature as seen by sick minds Even museum bigwigs called this the "art of the German people"

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#030 Independent Project

In addition to the large amount of language spoken under Nazi rule in the Third Reich, the poster also features "Blood and Soil", a slogan used by the Nazis in early Germany to evoke the idea of a purely "Aryan" race and the territories it wanted to conquer. This concept was the basis of Nazi ideology and its appeal, although it predates the Nazi regime.

It read: "Volunteers to the front! Youth to the land service of the Hitler Youth." The poster urged young Germans to join the Hitler Youth. And words like "Alien," "Parasite," "Degenerate" were also Nazi propaganda for the persecution of the Jews. In order to make the persecution of the Jews acceptable to the public, Nazi propagandists referred to the Jews as a threat to Germany, and the government widely disseminated the denunciation of the Jews as "aliens" and "parasites," and their need to contribute to the "degradation" of Germany's culture and political economy. The government widely spread the denunciation of Jews as "aliens" and "parasites" and that they were responsible for Germany's cultural political and economic "degeneration.

I think that these ridiculous words are applied to people who have lost their so-called "human" identity and have become creatures, non-human creatures. It takes away a great deal of empathy and perception of the Jewish people.

The term "Ethnic Cleansing" mentioned in the literature also seems to me to be absurd, where one group of people leave their homes and another group of people move in, thus creating an environment of "ethnic purity". Cleansing meant that there was something unclean to be dealt with, and therefore racist hatred portrayed each other as dirty and harmful.

"Tuberculose Syphilis Cancer are curable ... It is necessary to finish the biggest curse: The Jew!"

In the illustration, a doctor in a white coat uses a microscope to observe a strange bug, and the text reads "biggest curse: The Jew!". The Nazis directly linked the Jewish "Vermin" and "disease". As part of their racial campaign to “cleanse” society, Nazi leaders implemented “racial hygiene” policies to “protect” non-Jews.

It seems that the Nazis imposed on the Jews the most negative words they could use, while the righteous, positive words like "heroic" and "worldly" were used for themselves.

Ref: https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/origins-of-neo-nazi-and-white-supremacist-terms-and-symbols

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#029 Independent Project

卍

This symbol means "good luck" or "happiness" and has been used for at least 5000 years, from the Sanskrit word svastika, and after the Nazis used it I think it lost its original meaning and when I see it I just think of the Nazi invasion.

The Nazi colours were predominantly black, white and red, and Hitler himself designed the flag to convey the continuity between the past of the 'glorious' Reich and the Nazi regime. In red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man."

These colours and designs appeared in countless Nazi flags, posters, armbands and other insignia.

Here you can see people saluting with their hands in the huge open-air arena. When I just simply look at this picture, I definitely think to myself, this group of people is performing some sort of ritual? Why is everyone doing the same action? Each one is very much like a soulless puppet on strings. Indeed, this was a ritual under the Nazi regime, where people greeted each other by raising their hands and saying "Heil Hitler". This greeting was undoubtedly an expression of adoration for the ruler. The Nazis were indeed "masters of propaganda".

"Torches and Fire" was also one of the symbols used by the Nazis, who often used torches and flames to create theatre and displays of power. The torchlight procession announced the beginning of the Nazi regime. I was under the impression that the torchlight procession was the symbol and ritual of the Olympics, but I didn't realise that this relay ceremony started because of the Nazi Olympics in Berlin in 1936. The Nazis used the Olympics to create an image of peace and tolerance, which confused many foreign viewers.

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#028 Independent Project

The Nanking Massacre is one of the invasions that I am familiar with. In 1937, the Japanese army barbarically invaded Nanking, creating a tragic massacre in which more than 300,000 compatriots were killed. This invasion makes it difficult for me to write down any specific details, probably because it is too familiar. In our past education, this is the recent history that we have learnt by ear. Unlike the Nazis, the Japanese were unable to exercise cultural control and change, they simply killed and wanted to gain power.

Close your eyes. Rest in peace! Soul! Poor boy!

This is an endless period of horror, people will never be able to imagine how horrible it is. （December 23, 1937）

There are many words outside this commemoration that convey a sense of sorrow. Peace is indeed hard to come by for us.

Ha Suk-geun NOVEMBER 19, 2019 More than 80 years have passed since this history was made, but we can't forget it even in 800 years, not to mention more than 80 years. At that time, the Japanese army pushed me into the fire, and my trouser leg was set on fire, and my leg was burned, which still leaves scars. Liang Tingfang APRIL 15, 2020 After the massacre lasted four hours, my friend and I decided to escape. We rushed to the river and jumped. Machine guns fired at us, but we were not hit. There was a steep slope near the river and we found that the water was only waist-deep and we hid under it.

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#027 Independent Project

Auschwitz was also known as the "death factory" in World War II. I learnt from a blogger about her experience of visiting the Auschwitz Museum, she said: "Every figure, every scene was so brutal that it was unreal, hundreds and thousands of them, tons of human hair and countless pairs of shoes, I just remember my heart was like a clenched fist that kept constricting hard and hanging in my chest cavity. Only a metre or two away from visiting the gas chambers and incinerators I felt that the air I breathed was death."

It was a human purgatory, with Nazi doctors conducting human experiments, and Mengele's theory was that "people have a genealogy, just like dogs, and as some people have produced good dogs in the labs, I can produce oil quantities of people in them. "This is a ridiculous and laughable statement. He also researched "eyeball experiments" and "twin experiments", and it is hard to believe that these horrific facts have actually happened.

How did the Nazis justify the persecution of the Jews? How did citizens manage to not care or even participate?

What is clear from the previous research is that the Nazi party would achieve their centralisation by interfering with the free will of the masses in all aspects of language and culture. The "coordination policy" quickly took control of society, the state was coordinated from the top down and this spontaneous rebuilding of Germany was very fast. If you didn't join the Nazi party, then as a civil servant you lost your job. It was a clear, coercive policy that people had to compromise with the situation and with life, but the Nazis called it "coordination".

It took only six months for Hitler and the Nazis to succeed in taking complete control of the German state, and they eliminated all unofficial political opposition. Absolute political power was not enough; the Nazis also sought complete control over German economic, social and cultural life.

Leisure time in the workers' sector is called the "Joy program (Kraft durch Freude)", and "Strength through Joy offered" means that they offer subsidised travel, art classes, fitness opportunities and so on. It seems that all the nice words are used as a means of control.

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#026 Independent Project

I recalled this film I saw - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The story of Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, who forms a friendship with a Jewish boy in a concentration camp and who dies in the camp. The Jewish boy wears "Striped Pajamas" all day long and is Bruno's only friend due to the tense atmosphere at home, until one day Bruno decides to go to the other side of the barbed wire fence to meet his friend's father, then he too becomes the boy in the "striped pyjamas".

The brutality of war, and the birth of tragedy, is told here especially from a child's point of view. In totalitarian times, you either hide or perform, or you are a victim. People follow policies and dictators blindly, why does such a will arise? Who chooses such dictators? If the will is our personal choice, then why do we go for a dictator?

In addition, the entire film is very peaceful and there are no war scenes., so the death of the main character, Bruno, at the end is particularly shocking. Bruno's officer father, as well as the people in the camps, are all people who are being held hostage by the times. There seemed to be no freedom for anyone inside or outside the wire, but there was also a strong sense of antagonism between them. The people enclosed by the barbed wire are just a group of people uniformly called "rubbish", who are coerced to do hard labour, trampled on their dignity, and deprived of the right to live and be free, which is the real world inside.

Bruno regarded the numbers on the prison uniforms as part of his game, the concentration camp as a farm, and the strange stove next to his house as a terrifying crematorium. The moment he put on his "striped pajamas" he had lost his identity and became a Jew unable to control his own destiny. See cruelty in innocence, absurdity in seriousness, and sharpness in gentleness. It seems silent but has a real impact.

But irony is that the lie that the Nazis always preached was to "make the world a better place and make everyone's life better."