Pacific Perspectives was the name of our most recent learning journey in PLP. In this project, we directed themes of seeing around corners, collective identity, and change. The culmination of our learning, was a documentary that was an answer to the driving question: “Why are some people able to see around corners in ways others are not and by doing so shape how we see ourselves in this changing world?”. We approached answering this question through the lens of the West Coast, examining case studies including Walter Disney, the Famous architect Frank Gehry, and an array of histories within the West Coast that help us understand what and who shapes our collective identity.
I did not understand the driving question at first as I felt confused about who we can consider those who see around corners. I decided that I would conduct my own research on this topic before we went further into the project and ended up discovering a truth that drastically changed the course of my growth in this project. In my search, I stumbled upon a video by Mark Manson, the Author of best selling book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. In this video, he and directly yet indirectly answered this question in one sentence. He explained that those like Steve Jobs who are the 0.001% of society and who “push the human race forward” are only in the situation they are in because they do what the 99.99% of people aren’t doing. He explains that it takes a novel vision that others doubt is possible or others have not thought of and be able to make it a reality. It revealed the truth that it is not about hard work or “grinding” but simply having a novel idea and manifesting it. If that takes hard work then that’s how you achieve it but sometimes it doesn’t.
With this understanding, I directed my learning toward understanding how the people who shaped our collective identity on the West Coast brought about the society we see today. I asked questions like: “What influences have shaped them that are passed forward?” And “why did some ideas stick and some fall through the cracks of history?”
To answer these questions, my group consisting of Randy and Josh worked together to unite the cultural mosaic of the West Coast with change in collective identity and create a 15-minute documentary using case studies from Vancouver and Los Angeles. We started off strong with a well-divided workload and an exponentially growing collective understanding of our topic. After some preliminary research, we decided to examine the cultural mosaic of the West Coast through the lens of food. We would examine how different cuisines reflected stories of resilience, convergence, and innovation, all shaping what it means to live on the West Coast. As I continued to research I started to find a fabric of connection between stories on the West Coast of immigrants coming to Vancouver and LA and seeing at a new frontier. The “American dream” was real on the West Coast and constant adaption, manipulation, and innovation left the food scene vibrant and unique.
As we departed on our trip to LA we had created a completed a full screenplay, storyboard, and animatic which was used to prepare us for the shots on our trip. However, on top of that, I decided to take the initiative to create a class resource that included a Google Earth street view of the exterior and various photos, and tours of the interior of locations on our itinerary. Although this was a much more tedious process than I initially expected, the work I completed early on would pay off plenty as we went to film at each location. I decided that I would make this resource useful for the whole class as well and included all the locations we were going to.
Since our group had finished our screenplay before everyone else, I decided to volunteer to craft our collective intro which would be what every group used for their video and was what would tie together our videos and make them a Docuseries. On our trip to LA, we visited a large array of places from art galleries to Disney Land. Although we only planned on using a few selective places from our trip to represent how the food culture on the West Coast has changed the culture mosaic, I realized that if I looked deep enough, I could connect our theme to every place we went. Although certain places we went to, such as Disneyland were difficult at first to connect to this idea of cultural mosaic, I soon realized that Walt Disney was able to bring together a people through our shared life experiences and make a dreamland. He used his worldview to intersect with his personal experiences on the West Coast and made them a reality, confirming the fact that the West Coast is a “new frontier” for ideas and dreams.
From then on I filmed almost anything and the realization that everything is connected if I take the time to process it, guided a new approach to our initial idea. I found myself connecting the cultural mosaic to Ronald Ragan when we visited his presidential library through his incorporation of Spanish architecture in the building. At Frank Gehry’s concert hall, I managed to connect his use of materials and styles to the culture of the West Coast through his incorporation of natural and free-flowing shapes and landscaping.
It soon became evident that the hippy-dippy phrase “everything’s connected man” (and yes you need to add the man) was not in fact airyfairy but a simple truth of life. In a less esoteric way, life, our culture, and our identity are not singular or separated from the rest but a web of connections between the people, the location, and the creativity of the human experience. Maybe that was still a little esoteric but like that word five minutes ago, it is often a description of the truth that seems indescribable and actually can be perfectly described if you spend time searching.
I decided that I wanted to make my time away as meaningful as possible so I constantly searched for a deeper and deeper answer to our original driving question. However, this search extended even further than our field study. When I went on vacation to Costa Rica, we stayed on the West Coast, and as I should have expected, the cultural mosaic stretched further south and LA. Relating back to food, we ate at a Restaurant with Greek and Italian food at night and traditional Costa Rican food in the day. We ate at beautiful sunset-soaked patios eating guacamole in one bite and margarita pizza in another. I realized there that this was a heavily connected food scene in LA, Vancouver, and Nosara with the fusion of flavours to satisfy the Western pallet. I interviewed the manager of one of the restaurants and when I asked him why he chose to blend cuisines, he said “Because tourists like it”. I don’t know why I was expecting a deeper answer but despite its simplicity, it did convey something deeper. It revealed the truth that most of the ingenuity of the west coast has not been a mistake.
From the creation of fast food chains in the early twentieth century, the food scene on the West Coast has always been catered to the “fast and free culture”. It is a culture where those with the means to consume dictate success, where culture blends to make something profitable, fast, and easy. It has been a bottleneck of sorts. I talked about this idea with my brother one night and realized that I had to seriously examine what I considered to be the western pallet. I realized that I was talking about a white-centred society.
On one of the days of our trip, we went to an art museum that showcased a very eye-catching piece of work. It depicted a history lost in the archives, one of suffering, and discrimination and one that was not unique. It told the story of the LA Dodgers stadium being built and the entire community that was bulldozed in order to build it. This community was largely working-class minorities, most of whom were immigrants. They protested in marches but ultimately despite having to be carried out of their homes at times, they lost everything.
Many see the LA Dodgers stadium or the 12-lane highways of LA as key cultural marchers of the city, but what history have they concealed, covered up, erased? I realized how important it is to go past a single narrative, a single story, and to consider the parts of the interconnected web that don’t see the light. It is easy to glorify the past, but what is needed is an acknowledgment of the present and the long roots that the cultural mosaic has in the struggles of the past.
I decided that I would remake our video after our first draft was complete. I felt like the understanding I had gained was too important to sit in an album on my phone. So restructured and re-edited our video to include these deeper conclusions and connections. I plan to carry forward what I learned in this project. Take on the power of creativity in understanding, seeing every side of the story, and critically examining how the past constructs the world and society we live in today. I learned that place is one of the greatest influences of innovation and that it is diversity that creates resilience and excellence.
Thank you for reading and as always make sure to comment any thoughts or questions you have on this post.