Slammed Poetry

Out of an audience packed with college students at the Chester Fritz Auditorium, it comes as no surprise that a majority knew the answers to questions about pop culture. Nearly everyone knew that Ashlee Simpson was the pop star who was caught lip syncing on Saturday Night Live, and that the Jonas Brothers wear purity rings.

What may come as a surprise is the same audience that erupted with the answer to the previous questions fell silent when asked to name America's current Supreme Court justices.

Noting how hard it is to "find out real information and how easy it is to find out crap," Kip Fulbeck pointed this and several other thought-provoking ideas out at his presentation on Monday. An artist, writer, slam poet, spoken word performer, and professor of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Fulbeck was invited to campus by the Multicultural Awareness Committee of Student Government.

Fulbeck was down-to-earth and easily related to UND's student population through his sense of humor and the topics discussed. Describing his struggle to fit in racially throughout his life, Fulbeck gave a preview of two of his projects, The Hapa Project and his tattoo portrait project.

Embracing the term "hapa," a once-derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for "half," Fulbeck's work has turned the word into a well-known way to describe those of part Asian or Pacific Islander descent.

In The Hapa Project, Fulbeck photographed 1,200 people of all ages nationwide who fit the description of "hapa" and asked them to write, in their own words, the answer to a single question: What are you?

The project was first displayed in the Japanese American National Museum. Worrying that it wouldn't have the draw to keep people returning for its five-month run, Fulbeck added a personal element to the display. He allowed visitors to add a piece about themselves, allotting space for 500 visitor pieces in his exhibit. The 500 spots filled up within the first day. One hundred portraits from the project are also available in his book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa. The project includes portraits from young adults to the elderly who have struggled with being labeled throughout their lives. One child responds to the question by saying, "I'm a very little boy in fifth grade that has no friends." Fulbeck said he felt it was important to include this child into his presentations. "At some point in your life, you have been or you are now or you will be . . . this kid," he said.

"The best thing about the project was it forced me to be around people who thought differently than me," said Fulbeck. "I like to hang with my crew . . . And that's not a good thing because it makes us get into this little bubble and think that's the world and that's not the world."

Fulbeck's tattoo project was a cross section of the American population with tattoos. Celebrities like Kat Von D, Joan Jett, Paul Stanley, and Chuck Liddell, as well as college professors, suburban mothers, gang members, and Holocaust survivors are featured in his book Permanence: Tattoo Portraits with their stories with the meanings behind their tattoos.

The next project Fulbeck is working on is entitled Mixed Kids, and will feature photographs of children of hapa descent. "I'm just trying to capture the kids as they are," he said. "I want the kids to come in and be themselves, not what their parents want them to be."

Samples of Fulbeck's work, including his short videos and pages from his books, are available on his website, www.redsushi.com.