#72: Claudia Da Silva
We're joined by multimedia creative & student, Claudia Da Silva, who tells us more about "NO ID" Zine, Namilia SS25 (Good Girl Gone Bad), Jersey Shore, Lil Wayne's rockstar era, and so much more!
“I’m a lover, hater, anti-social extrovert, peoplewatcher, and full-time overthinker. I was born in Johannesburg into a traditional Madeiran Catholic household and later at the age of 6 moved to Durban, KZN where I grew up (the 031), and recently relocated to Cape Town in 2021. I recently graduated with a BA in Multimedia Production, currently completing my Honours at UCT. I love to work with narratives built from video, photography, writing, art, and fashion. From watching MTV to reading Cosmopolitan and YOU magazines, my interest in media (mostly popular culture) stems from my obsessions with it as a child. I want to be able to produce meaningful and authentic narratives within that realm. From the people I come across in my life and my own personal background and upbringing, I am mostly inspired by the nuances of cultures and identities that often dictate how we see ourselves and the world.”
We welcome Claudia to The FRM Newsletter to share what she’s been into recently!
🆔💌 “NO ID” Zine
After my undergrad I realized that I can keep producing work at an academic level that interests me, and doesn’t feel pretentious (no shade). This year I’m completing my Honours with a project solely produced, and in collaboration with many creative and honest contributors. “NO ID” Zine is a working-project bringing together a collection of contributing writers, artists and photographers. The zine is thought of in a kind of “come as you are” philosophy.“NO ID” embraces the complexities of existence where there’s so much emphasis on the surface level of a person’s identity, which often neglects the nuances of lived experiences. My sole intention in going forward with putting together the zine is to make it a platform for contributors to be unapologetic, creative and to honestly get stuff off their chest through vivid layouts. My hope for the final product is for it to be authentic and relatable in sharing personal stories and experiences. “NO ID” is about experiences and not just labels.
📺🧠 Nostalgia
I love watching, listening and bringing up things that remind me of the past, especially of my childhood. We spend so much time considering our futures, which is valid, but I think there is value in re-remembering and continuing to hold the past close to my heart. Whether it’s buying a trinket for my inner child, watching cartoons or trauma-dumping, nostalgia is a source of inspiration and motivation, it helps me to remember where I came from and how far I have come.
❤😒 I <3 Being a Hater
It’s almost as if it's in my blood but I have an instinctual ability to not like things, it's a blessing and a curse. I can’t fake it and I don’t see why anyone else should, but we aren’t meant to like everyone and everything. Once we stop pretending that everything is okay then I think people could connect on a more genuine level and speak up about what they want or don't want.
⚰🚗 Cemeteries as a Road Trip Destination
I wrote a mini dissertation about cemeteries and the significance they hold in our communities as a social and historical artifact and I truly don’t mean to sound corny but cemeteries are both disruptive and beautiful all at once. I think about cemeteries all the time, everytime I visit a new place I look to see if I can hopefully come across a new one. I’m deeply inspired by grief, memory and religious motifs so I hope to create more work and art about cemeteries in the near future.
💏📼 Reality TV
It just makes so much sense to me. Maybe Reality TV just screams trashy to you, but deep down these shows offer the most ridiculous complex personalities and relationships on blast, if you’re not psychoanalyzing every minute of it then you’re definitely watching it wrong.
Jersey Shore forever.
🎸🎧 Lil Wayne’s Rockstar Era (2009-2010)
Every now and then when I feel manic, I get into this headspace where I think that Lil Wayne did the most insane thing ever by releasing tracks that to this day, are in my opinion, cultural resets. Somehow I resonate with him and this era. I love playing these tracks in particular around people who pretend to hate it. Honestly I am a massive fan of artists who seem like they're on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Kanye West practically saved my life, sorry about it xoxo.
Prom Queen (2009)
Knockout ft. Nicki Minaj (2009)
Hot Revolver (2009)
💄💋 Re-applying Lip Liner every five minutes
I tend to lean towards both minimal and trashy makeup, I am not an MUA but I feel like I nailed the perfect combo of wearing both trashy and minimal makeup, at the end of the day all you need is a handful of products. My go-to obsession is lip liner and re-applying it every time I feel anxious, maybe it's mania, maybe it's Maybelline. I’ve been loving Switch Beauty's liner in the shade, Masala Chai.
🧷☠ Namilia SS25 (Good Girl Gone Bad)
I would honestly wear every garment in this collection, I grew up wearing Ed Hardy and I feel like this collection is way more than a nod to Y2K. The style and sense of taste is daring and high fashion, beyond fast fashion regurgitations. The runway’s casting, styling and entire vibe was TRASHY and $EXY.
🎛🎵 Music that Scratches my Brain
Karlaplan (Remix) – Off The Meds
9mm – Brutalismus 3000
Bunnybunnybunny – Mietze Conte
SAdesFakSHen – DBN Gogo, Benny Benassi, Thutho the Human
Riot! – Earl Sweatshirt
ULTRA VIOLET – Thouxanbanfauni
Threads – Keluar
Red Sabbath – Kid Cudi
🎙🎹 Podcast Radios
I have recently been plugged into ‘PIOUSRADIO’ by @houseofpious which is an experimental audio documentary radio, because sometimes it's really nice to get out of your head and listen to something you wouldn’t have necessarily played before. I also love to listen back to sets from @betterwithyou_ct through their podcast episodes.