We understand that Art is often used as a tool by systems of power. Artists are lured into abusive contracts and employment situations by entities that seek to use their art to improve their image, craft propaganda, and control ideas which oppose their own. Capitalism puts a pressure on all people, including artists, to capitalize on their interests and passions, even when doing so might be counterintuitive to their own personal goals. The threat of poverty, or irrelevance is a powerful motivator. Many of the working artists, performers, and musicians that we consider to be peers have sought to earn a living through their practices. Many, if not all of them, have ultimately had to compromise their values in the process of doing so.

We recognize that as creators who are trans, queer, and disabled, that the world of the Arts often pressures people like us to create work which packages and sells our suffering to a largely white and cis audience. Many creators that we consider to be peers who are also marginalized have found ways to profit off of this system in the way which we have described. We don’t consider this to be an inherently harmful or unethical thing to do, but we recognize that some people are only creating work in this manner because they feel that it is their only option, as marginalized people. In other words, they believe that they cannot create anything that is not about their suffering if they wish to earn a living or gain any notoriety at all.

Since we are not wealthy by any stretch, we have to seek out funding for projects that we wish to accomplish. When we do, we try to research who we are asking for funding to minimize risk. We are committed to financial transparency. Our ethics come before our work does, with no exceptions.

We recognize that, as white people, we are granted a degree of privilege that is not granted to BIPOC creators. It is the responsibility of anyone with any kind of privilege, be it male, straight, cis, white, allistic, high-income, or able-bodied privilege, to use their freedom to create spaces for people who are not granted the same liberties without alienating them in the process. We understand that ‘White-Supremacy’ is a paradigm fabricated to create a racial hierarchy. Despite this, it is not ‘fake’. No matter how intentionally it was initiated, the oppressive institution of white-supremacy and racism harms everyone currently living. It is, unfortunately, not something that someone can choose to not participate in. Just as BIPOC must recon with institutional racism, white people must acknowledge the ways in which being white is impractical for themselves and harmful for everyone else. For example, does it really do someone who is considered “white” any good to be defined that way? Would it not be better to understand what it means to be Russian, German, Irish, and British, or Polish and Armenian? While there are many distinct cultures that fall under the category of “white”, “whiteness” itself is not heterogenous. The generational process through which many white people lose touch with their ancestral culture over time is the same process which allows whiteness to be considered the default and the norm. It’s true that there are exceptions depending on where you live and what your life circumstances are, of course. Still, there are surely many white Americans who resonate with that sentiment; they too feel as though they have not been raised with any deep personal connections to where they came from. The only thing which is gained from being “White” is privilege at the cost of the oppression of everyone else. Unfortunately, the solution is not as simple as ‘rejecting whiteness’. As previously stated, this is a cultural institution which bears many of the same colonial roots as the forces which led to the founding of this nation. It is not possible because whiteness is not something which you decide to be, but rather something which is applied to you by everyone else. The only way to solve this is to recognize that generational problems require generational solutions. It isn’t inherently bad to be a person who is White; but it is harmful to not understand what the historical context of that label is. As individuals, all we can do is understand these things, and try to unpack how they play out in our own lives.

To a creator in the historically-unique position of having no connection to their ancestral roots, it is tempting to be drawn to culturally rich histories and practices, from eastern asian religions to the delta blues. Some of the most impactful encouters with new things in my own life have involved this dynamic, from the first time I heard a Charles Mingus song, to the first time I learned about Tibetan Buddhism. Again, this is not inherently bad. In fact, it can be good! The sharing and mixing of cultures is how many of the most powerful statements, movements, and creations come to be. The trouble starts when a white creator begins to imitate cultures that are not their own without understanding how the cultural appropriation works. The resulting situation is one where white creators are granted use, and sometimes even ownership of practices which do not belong to them. There are even many circumstances where the original creators of those practices, usually marginalized people, are not given any credit at all. Good examples of this taking place are: Elvis not crediting Big Mama Thornton for “Hound Dog,” Led Zepplin attempting to copyright the song “Gallows Pole” which was not written by them and had been used communally as something which could not be owned. There are also many cases of performing artists aping a “poverty aesthetic” because they associate it with a sort of exoticism. This kind of exploitation is fundamentally corrupt and run counter to any kind of progress. That doesn’t mean that there’s no way to share in someone else’s culture.

When productive cultural sharing happens, it is because everyone in the exchange has agency. No one is being coerced by force or circumstance to comply. No one’s ownership of their own creations is called into question, and no one’s story is being told without their consent, everyone is respected. People are free to be curious about each other, and even to have a certain degree of ignorance as to the reality of someone else’s life. The resulting mixture is one in which people’s mutual bonds of humanity are strengthened. Such experiences lie at the very core of why Humanity has persisted and made so much progress.

Our mission is to create work which alienates the oppressor and uplifts the oppressed. In the anarchist tradition, revolution is a practice and not a finite goal. Our passion as creators is to use all the tools we have to explore ideas and unpack personal experiences. Hopefully when we are no longer able to create, or when Astrophoria ceases to be a functional creative team we will leave behind a legacy which corresponds with the values we have stated here.