|
Visit the CrissyCorkBoard!
|
From ‘Self-conscious’ to ‘Self-conscience’
By Yelena Shuster, Jul 29, 2004
Yvea Eaton stands onstage with a stern facial expression, one hand holding the microphone, the other holding numbered index cards.
“We are dummies in retail windows. Take down the ‘For Sale’ signs. I am not for sale,” Eaton says.
“Fashion. What a despicable, diabolical concept,” the Lick-Wilmerding High School senior continues. “Cash runs this society, baby! One man’s dream is another man’s economy.”
As a third year intern at Crissy Field’s Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders (I-YEL) program, Eaton for the past year been learning about the negative results of consumerism and the media. It is now her turn to enlighten the crowd of 70 before her, an audience she has enraptured with her words.
On July 17 at CELLspace, Eaton and 11 other I-YEL interns presented “Self Conscious,” an energy-pumping, environmentally-friendly fashion show and video screening whose goal was to raise awareness of the connection between consumerism, depleted natural resources and the media.
The fashion show featured reused and refurbished clothing that was sketched, sewed, and glued together by the teens.
I-YEL is a paid internship for San Francisco youth that prepares young people from diverse backgrounds to become advocates for environmental and social change. The youth titled their show “Self Conscious” because they wanted to transform the self-consciousness of teens who look for acceptance through clothing into a “self-conscience” — knowing the hazardous effects of consumerism on the environment.
“I-YEL! I-YEL! I-YEL!” the interns chanted behind the curtain before the show’s start. The youth then walked out, strutting their environmentally-friendly clothing in groups of two, each pair clothed in themed outfits. With the help of musical groups Usher, Outkast, and Evanescence, the interns assumed the personas of schoolgirls, movie stars, rappers, punk rockers, and cheerleaders.
The teens’ fashion line “YEL-Wear” featured a miniskirt/vest ensemble made with FedEx packaging, pants made from paper dollar bills, backpacks made out of stuffed animals, and shorts cut from Astroturf. Accessories included pencil earrings and CD/discarded cork necklaces.
To acquire the raw materials, the fashion committee went to secondhand thrift stores like Goodwill and Scrap, a store that sells trash and products discarded by companies.
Turning trash into eveningwear wasn’t easy.
“My outfits turned out nothing like I imagined,” said intern Cady Shadwick, a senior at Phillip and Sala Burton High School.
Most outfits fell on the fantastic and not the practical side, but the youth were more concerned with making the political point that it is possible to obtain clothing without buying in excess. Just re-use what you have and re-make it.
It was sentiment echoed by intern Carmen Lu, a freshman at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School.
“I just want to get a point across … that everyone thinks being an environmentalist means hugging a tree or whatever. You don’t see me hugging trees. If I walked down the street in downtown, you’d think I was a normal person who wasn’t an environmentalist,” Lu said, adding: “Buy what you need, not what’s going to stay in your closet for ages.”
In between the fashion show, the interns screened a video they made about the media’s role in encouraging overconsumption. In the video, a puppet narrator asks people about their spending habits.
The teens themselves admitted to being unhealthy consumers.
“That’s the first step to realizing the problem; you have to be aware of it. Then you take the necessary steps,” said intern Lowell High School sophomore Cris Miranda, an immigrant from Nicaragua.
Many in the audience talked about how they were affected by the fashion show and the steps they would take to conserve resources.
“I don’t think I’m going to buy any more new clothes unless I really need them,” said one young woman from the audience. “Even if they’re ripped, I’m going to put little patches and make it all colorful.”
Ernesto Pepito, I-YEL Program coordinator said that the teen interns couldn’t buy themselves another shirt without feeling a bit guilty.
“They have unconscious things running through their heads. We’re hoping to pass that on to the audience, so they start questioning their habits,” Pepito said.
After making a minimum commitment of one year, the I-YEL interns met every Wednesday after school and three Saturdays each month. Throughout the year, the interns acquired a number of skills, including compromising, delegating, and decision-making. Others were more technical, such as working a camera, transforming trash into clothing, sewing, or coordinating the logistics of an event.
“A year’s worth of work and it’s over in an evening. There’s a sense of relief and a sense of sadness,” Cady Shadwick said. “It was a success that we just got through the evening without anybody diving off the runway.”
San Francisco high school students interested in the internship can call Ernesto Pepito at (415) 561-7767 or e-mail yelproject@yahoo.com.