Project One
For my first project, I used contextualization. What I wanted to convey in this project was how Thailand's punk music scene is defying the strict laws against freedom of expression that are implemented in this country. What gave me the idea to do this project was watching a Vice mini-documentary on how punk music was rebelling against mostly Asian countries' strict laws. My initial idea was to create a zine, but due to time, I was only able to create the content and not the actual zine.
Art
For my art piece, I attempted to create a zine. Instead, I ended up with a series of collages that portrayed what would normally be seen in a political, punk zine. As you can see there are images with the Thai flag, the anarchist symbol, and punks. I would say the most "punk" part of the collages has to be the one labeled "The Thai Clown." I actually took a picture of the Prime Minister and removed his head to add the image of a clown I drew and painted. I used contextualization in this product by taking the art element of punk culture and using it to describe the bigger issue, which is that punk is used when there is a restraint on freedom to express oneself.
English
For English, I wrote a short story about a young punk poet who is at a concert that is being regulated by the Thai authorities. Throughout the story, he is writing a poem that takes a tragic event to be able to finish. I would say it was the most time-consuming part of my project, due to having to tap into my creativity and fight through writer's block and hard times in order to finish. I used contextualization in order to piece together the idea that the Thai punk music scene defies the strict laws that the government enforces in order to keep power.
History
For my history component, I wrote a small essay on the 2014 coup d'etat in Thailand, in which the army overthrew the government. It was my way to almost process information that I learned throughout my project about this subject. I wrote about what caused, what happened during, and what happened after the coup. This connects to contextualization because The 2014 coup laid out the agenda in order for the punk scene to really emerge.