Artist Statement

For our counter hegemonic film, we made a short documentary entitled “Gossip Line”, in which we went around campus with a tiny microphone interviewing students about cancel culture, hookup culture, party culture, LGBTQ+ life, and Clark as an institution overall. 

We decided to ask about these specific topics in an aim to challenge preconceived notions about college, especially as they relate to heteronormativity in regards to hookup culture, party culture, and LGBTQ+ life. We opted for a documentary rather than a fictional narrative because we wanted to make it more raw and realistic, rather than scripted and staged. If we gave students time to prepare their stories, yes, they might be more put together, but the probability of their stories being completely true and unfiltered might change. We (students) have unique experiences that are often overlooked because of assumptions people make about college students, so making this film a space for student narratives was a top priority for us. We asked everyone we interviewed for consent to be filmed and included in the film, ensuring that everyone involved felt comfortable and safe to share. Overall, we wanted to center the students that make up the institution (Clark) rather than the institution itself, in order to counter dominant narratives that erase student experiences.