Lanie Cheatham ‘24 & Sophie Winner ‘24

For this grant project, Lanie Cheatham and Sophie Winner created a multiroom sculpture that made space for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals affected by misogyny to express anger. Rage Cage: The Cage That Frees You was made to acknowledge the dual societal expectations forced upon people of the AAPI diaspora by racism and patriarchy. Three rooms built by the duo force the viewer to reckon with their anger as a person of color affected by misogyny in a white supremacist, patriarchal society. The viewer enters the piece through a laundry machine, crawling through a tunnel that transports them to another dimension. There, in the room's darkness, they can reflect on the motivation of their anger and scream cathartically. After releasing their anger via screaming, they move to the third room: the room of healing. This room is a culminating space, filled with visual and auditory art made by people of the AAPI diaspora.

Outside View of scream box

Side view of portal tunnel and scream box

This sculpture was showcased at Asian Night Market in the Spring of 2023. The entrance to the sculpture required that the viewer kneel and crawl through a fabric-lined tunnel to the scream box. This gravitational shift into the crawlspace forced the viewer to move and be transported, both mentally and physically. Inside the scream box, viewers are directed via an audio recording to reflect on their anger, to breathe, and then to let out a scream. The audio recording provides screams of other AAPI individuals, making the participant feel less alone in their screaming, in an act of collective catharsis. The outside of the scream box was plastered with photos, taken by Sophie Winner, of various people who identified with this project, screaming. Additionally, a round paper mache face, contorted by screaming, donned the right side of the box. The culminating room was octagonal with four plexiglass walls, two wooden walls, and an open exit and entrance. The sheer plexiglass walls gave the room a fishbowl effect, raising questions about voyeurism and vulnerability. It allowed for the participant only to be seen by the audience after screaming and during the healing process. This open show of vulnerability brought into question how AAPI diasporic non-men are viewed in society, and the pressure their upbringing and the societal expectations put on them to stay silent and never show weakness.

Front view of portal and scream box

Side view of scream box and healing room

Anger is a tool for liberation, it is the way we face centuries of injustice and take a stand against it. Rage Cage: The Cage That Frees You was a physical space that enabled this anger in both a focused and therapeutic way. Members of the AAPI diaspora are constructed and portrayed as the silent race in America. Additionally, women and trans people are consistently silenced in daily life. This gallery actively works to confront these forms of oppression, providing a physical space for unsilencing and recollection. The temporary nature of the exhibit serves as a reminder that the spaces we make for ourselves can often be fleeting, but nonetheless essential spaces where we commune with one another to find our voices.

Healing box view from above

Another view of healing box from above, Asian American female and non-binary musical artists are plastered on the walls.