Cling Film by Mike Durkin

Cling Film
A sound collage essay exploring what it means to be an American in 2020.
Compiled and created by Mike Durkin



CW: Hateful language, Hate groups, Racism, Bigotry, Misogyny

Hi, hello, how are you?

What can preserve?

What can we leave behind?

Why do we hate?

This is a photo, essay, and sound collage project understanding hate, fear, and traditions as we head towards America’s most important election to date. This project is inspired by my time growing up in the Poconos in Pennsylvania and valuing family, industry, and traditions to call back the good ol days. This project is also inspired by traveling to and spending time in different parts of the American South- areas of Tennessee and Mississippi where preservation is at the forefront, and progressive is deemed as Anarchist, Socialist, Communist, and Antifa. This project is inspired by currently living in Ultra Conservative Staten Island, NY where there are no shortages of MAGA signs, flags, and hats. By no means are these areas mentioned defined by these characteristics, nor are unanimously Conservative. This project was inspired by my own journey of understanding the hate and racism of my ancestors, and the inheritance I’ve received.

This project is inspired to honor the BIPOC women living in the shelter I work in. Where their lives matter and face substantial amounts of stress, scrutiny, and prejudice because of who they are, how they present themselves, and the systematic oppression they are a part of. Their fight for acceptance, equality, and stable housing.

This is a project that hopes to learn, share, open up dialogue, confront preservations, contradictions, and expose indirect forms of prejudice. This project hopes to educate on spreading misinformation, hate speech, white silence, voter intimidation. This project condemns hate, hate speech, and those that support this.

I have provided a small list of research and places to donate. This list is by no means exhaustive but is what I’ve used in crafting this work.

A word about the content. I’ve created this text through direct observations, through dialogue in videos, and overheard conversations. Much of the dialogue contains hate speech.

The content in the sound collage is clips pulled from a variety of sources. Those of which are included on the resource and donations page.

Thank you for reading, thank you for listening. Let’s continue this momentum way after the election. The fight will not be over.

Vote him out. Vote. Vote. Vote.

Donation Campaigns
https://www.blackownedbrooklyn.com/
http://www.nycityblack.com/black-directory/
https://www.adl.org/ways-to-give
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/where-to-donate-for-black-lives-matter.html
https://lgbtfunders.org/give-2/
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
https://gaycenter.org/support/give/gift/once/
https://gaycenter.org/organizations-you-can-support/
https://ny.curbed.com/2018/2/5/16972144/homeless-shelters-charities-new-york-housing-outreach#:~:text=Donate%20money.,accept%20donations%20through%20their%20websites.
https://philadelphiahousingaction.info/support-philadelphia-housing-action/


Source Text and Audio
ABC News
ABC News, clip 2
ABC News, clip 3
AFP News Agency
Al Jazeera English
Beyoncé "God Bless The U.S.A"
Joe Biden Youtube
Joe Biden Youtube, clip 2
Rob Bliss Youtube
Andrea Buckett Cooks
Austin American-Statesman
Cabela's
CamTrendz Youtube
The Carolina Chocolate Drops with Henry Clay Work's "Day of Liberty" from "Divided & United: Songs of The Civil War"
Carl’s Jr
CBS This Morning
CBS This Morning, clip 2
Chick Fil A
Coca-Cola
Kristy Lee Cook "God Bless The U.S.A"
Costco
Culvers
The Dallas Morning News
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Exploring Life Youtube
Ford Trucks
Fox News
Fox News, clip 2
Fox News, clip 3
Fox News, clip 4
Flint Gennari of WFAF News
Bryson Gray Youtube
Lee Greenwood "God Bless The U.S.A"
The Hill
The Hillbilly Kitchen
Hollywood Select Youtube
Home Depot
Inside Edition
Inside Edition, clip 2
Jack in the Box
Kroger
Little Caesar’s
Loretta Lynn - "Take Your Gun And Go, John" from "Divided & United: Songs of The Civil War"
McDonalds
Military Archive Youtube
Military Power Channel Youtube
NBC News
NowThis News
Jim Pelletier Youtube of Ronald Reagan
Piggly Wiggly
Pizza Hut
Ram Trucks
Rebel HQ
RedFrost Motivation Youtube
Ruptly
Semaj De' La Soul
SpikeFe Youtube
SportsWars
Jody Stecher - "Tarry Trousers"
Bryan Sutton playing George Frederick Root's "Battle Cry of Freedom" from"Divided & United: The Songs of The Civil War
The Telegraph
TODAY
Donald J. Trump Youtube
Universal News
WalMart
Western PA Incident Audio
Whataburger
WHEELS Youtube
Zaxby's

Mike (He/Him) is a multidisciplinary community-based artist residing in New York City.

https://www.instagram.com/mikedurkinprojects/