2022 Theses Master's

Microphones & Brushes: An Exercise in Radical Engagement

Takayasu, Sachiko

In 2019, I joined Columbia University’s Oral History Master of Arts program to learn how to collect the stories of my mother’s experiences over her 90 years, living in both the United States and Japan. Little did I know then how the program would help me bring out her memories and present them to the public. This thesis compiles select interview excerpts, our visual collaboration using art, and a couple of short stories, all based on the remembrances she shared with me.

It tells a story of what it was like to grow up as a child, then become a teenager under increasingly inhumane conditions imposed on civilians as Japan pursued its imperialistic ambitions in the first half of the 20th century.

As her interviewer, I had limits on how much I could really understand the stories that she was sharing with me. After all, I grew up in post-war democratic Japan and New York. My knowledge of wartime Japan is informed by books, photos and films, none of them representing my mom’s personal experience.

To more accurately imagine what she saw and how she felt, I built on our dialogues by representing her stories in paintings. These images triggered responses from mom that led to additional dialogues and research. Each revision incorporated stories that did not surface in the initial interviews.
I also transformed some excerpts into short stories using tools different from painting to explore her recollections. This process required that I articulate the sociopolitical context, develop a narrative arc, and see the situation from the perspectives of the characters.

Interviewing, co-creating paintings, and writing short stories enabled me to empathize at a level much deeper than I had anticipated. At the same time, mom told me that our engagement helped her understand me better and why I would sometimes struggle to grasp her experiences. Thus, this thesis represents an exploration in radical empathy, using microphones and brushes.