Queer history comes to life in one CCA course
Students reimagine games, create shrines, and discover first-person accounts of LGBTQ+ history in the interdisciplinary course Queer Super Objects created by artist John de Fazio.
The rainbow flag is celebrated as an enduring symbol of the LGBTQ+ community during pride month and beyond. Its adornment of bookstores, shops, bars, and entire streets evoke a powerful symbol of resilience, hope, community, and belonging. But did you know that this iconic flag started out as an art project right here in San Francisco?
The colorfully striped banner has its origins with the artist Gilbert Baker, who along with other activists created the multicolor design that would become the rainbow flag in 1978. With the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement quickly gaining momentum in the 1970s, San Francisco became one of the centers for LGBTQ+ life in the country, with prominent community leader Harvey Milk elected as California’s first openly gay man to public office. Milk, who met Baker in 1974, prompted him to envision a powerful new symbol for the community.
Today, the rainbow flag is an instantly recognizable LGBTQ+ symbol and has evolved to include the many diverse expressions that were not present in the original banner in the 1970s. It’s also what one CCA instructor might call a “queer super object,” the name of which inspires a popular interdisciplinary course he teaches at the college.
Mateo Sof Allier Lechuga’s (BFA Animation 2023) Queer Super Objects project, 2023.
“When I was a student back in the seventies there was a short little art movement called super objects. They were kind of handcrafted, not quite sculptures, not quite utilitarian objects, not props,” says John de Fazio, instructor in Ceramics. “And so for a queer super object, I use the example of Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag to convey this abstract idea for students.”
De Fazio notes that attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people have changed in the decades since he went to college. And although he wishes a class like Queer Super Objects existed during his own experience, he’s eager to bring forward queer histories and craft to students today. “I wanted to create a course that could be a nurturing environment for students to make work about their self identity,” he says, adding, “And it’s not just queer students who take it. Because it’s interdisciplinary it brings together students from across the college.”
Tuesday Iverson’s (Individualized Studies) Queer Super Objects project, 2023.
Each year students work on a collaborative project, and this year involved a collaboration with the Game Arts department. Students decided to reimagine the classic board game “the Game of Life” as the “the Queer Game of Life.” In the classic game, players follow a path that features the so-called traditional life stages in American culture, which includes going to college, making money, marrying, and having children.
“This class said, ‘Let’s get rid of the money,’” de Fazio says. “They decided they wanted it to educate players about queer heroes and icons, and the board design goes through queer neighborhoods.”
Students today want to chart a course all their own, de Fazio observes, and the Queer Game of Life project shows how they can express the desire to imagine different futures. “They don’t want to take a previous path,” he says. “In the Queer Game of Life, it’s not the person with the most money who wins or the person that’s married for life is the most successful.”
“I remember the candlelight protests from Castro Street to City Hall that stretched for what seemed like miles”
Ceramics instructor
Grey Day’s (BFA Painting and Drawing 2023) Queer Super Objects project, 2023.
Students also come out of the course learning the history of the LGBTQ+ movement as well as its relation to art and design and gain practical experience in interdisciplinary craft, from molding and casting to prototyping and to collaborative group work. And field trips to local landmarks and historical sites like the San Francisco Historical Archive on Market and the GLBT Museum in the Castro district allow students to see history first hand.
De Fazio was a witness to many of these historical events. “I remember the candlelight protests from Castro Street to City Hall that stretched for what seemed like miles,” he recalls when speaking about the assassination of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. And he vividly remembers the painful devastation of the AIDS crisis on the creative community, and the subsequent powerful NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, a collaborative art project created by San Francisco activist Cleve Jones in 1985 and displayed on the National Mall in Washington D.C. De Fazio says, “The motivation for me is to give a personal first-person account of queer history.”
Akaysha Calhoun’s (Painting and Drawing) Queer Super Objects project, 2023.
Many of the student’s individual class projects take on a mix of historical inspiration and personal narratives. Pride parades, drag outfits, historical footage and photos of the Stonewall Riots lead to projects like shrines, banners, sculptural works, and clothing. De Fazio says, “The history is important, but then students develop ideas for projects and translate it into a sketch and then a 3D object.”
His specialty is in mold making and casting, so for a part of the course, de Fazio says he teaches students “how to make either latex molds or plaster molds, and then cast additions of objects that have symbolic meaning for them.”
The interdisciplinary course draws students from across CCA’s programs including in areas such as architecture and design. De Fazio says, “It’s empowering to see students really get into craft and learn from each other.” He adds, “It’s not just a teacher showing you how to make materials, it’s witnessing 16 other people develop an idea. They learn more from each other than they do from me.”
Although not all students who take the course identify as LGBTQ+, de Fazio says the space is created to be safe for everyone. “There is so much support within the class for trans students, particularly now,” he says. “And it’s so important for these students to feel like they’re in a safe network of people.”
Published on June 15, 2023