Jerome Cheung
Collection
INTENDED TO BE READ BY THE ARCHIVES
To understand this project we must understand the time period we are situated in, acknowledge the land this thesis was built on, and discuss the importance of keeping the archives “alive”. This was created between September 2023 - May 2024, amidst the ongoing Palestinian genocide. As I write this after midnight on April 26, students all over the country are setting up encampments to protest the brutal occupation of Palestine. This entire thesis was created on the homeland of the Lenape who were violently displaced due to European settler colonialism some centuries ago. From living in one settler colony to examining another unfold in real time, suddenly it makes sense how genocide can be encouraged by the land of the free.
This project was about “living archives”. That is, preserving history and keeping the memory of a piece of history alive. It requires active memorialisation, one that challenges singular narratives and allows for democratic input. Truthfulness. Archives that are revisited so frequently it leaves imprints years, decades, even centuries later. All my primary research was done in New York City, whether that be through having a genuine conversation with an Armenian man I struggled to understand, being swept away by merciless, horseshoe-crab-filled waters, finding myself in the midst of chants outside the UC, or whether it be through sitting in my dark, windowless void of a room as my phone feeds me video after video of extreme violence and death like I’ve never seen before. Research came with weight, as always, as I learned and unlearned. Being in deep research and being so focused on archivism allowed me to perceive even the smallest details, to memorialise the smallest things worth remembering. To pay gratitude to everyone and everything that led up to this moment.
Special thanks to everyone who contributed to this thesis:
COLLECTION ASSISTANTS: Triết Vo, Jennifer Fangai Yan
HARDWARE: Teresa Wang
CASTING DIRECTOR: Olivia Zhu
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Zach Wassef, Jaison Lin, Sarah Abdellatif-Chaves
VIDEOGRAPHER: Billy Cole Landers
PHOTO ASSISTS: Lisa Le, Daphnie Yang
HARDWARE: Teresa Wang
CASTING DIRECTOR: Olivia Zhu
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Zach Wassef, Jaison Lin, Sarah Abdellatif-Chaves
VIDEOGRAPHER: Billy Cole Landers
PHOTO ASSISTS: Lisa Le, Daphnie Yang
Bio
Jerome is a designer whose work serves as a time capsule of the current state of the world. Using unconventional and impractical materiality, Jerome weaves narratives from the personal, microscopic level to the geopolitical level, inviting viewers to discourse on the vastness of the human experience. Jerome’s process begins with investigation of the world around him, from journaling new experiences, interviewing strangers, to filming nature. Rooted in an innate sense of exploration and commitment to justice, his designs bridge history with contemporary culture, expressed through garments that present as tangible records of his explorations.
CONTACT: fishfarmjerome@gmail.com