I’ve been finding art from my student days, and it is really interesting to see my ideas after so many years.
Take, for example, the idea I had for my BFA Thesis. I wanted to make a David and Goliath story, so I picked the real-life example of the Pak-India war of ’65.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: there was no war! It was a skirmish, and PS, Pakistan LOST! Well, sorry! But that is total hogwash! Everything you read about this war has been altered to fit a different idea, and having us win would not help.
As an art student in Lahore in 2000, I happened to spark a conversation with my local art supply store owner, who had been a teenager at the time of the war. And, as it happened, my grandfather was Joint-Secretary of Defense at the time, and as such, my own family members became an incredibly rich source of information about that war.
I was so interested to hear about this war, I spoke to a number of locals in Lahore as well as my own family, and other adults who had been witness to the events of 1965. And then I decided to base my thesis on this research.
In hindsight, I think I could have made a cool historical project and simulated a war-time propaganda campaign. But I was 20, and getting increasingly obsessed with the idea of becoming an animator, or some kind of graphic artist.
I created a Disney movie concept, and used that as the basis for a movie ad-campaign. It wasn’t the best, but it was chockful of research!
I blurred out the Walt Disney logo, just in case anyone takes offense!