Past Projects
Data Dialogues , Open Environmental Data Project (2022-2023)
The Price of Salvation: Visual and Narrative Representations of Climate Change in 21st Century US Climate Cinema (2020)
Abstract: “This research aims to understand how visual and narrative representations of climate change create ethical frameworks that determine who responds to climate issues and when. The core question asks: What is the sociality of climate change in US Climate Cinema? By using fiction films as the dataset, it asserts that narrative production of climate change can shape beliefs and understandings of climate change, especially in places where its visceral experience may not be as acutely felt. This research establishes an ecocritical-Marxist-feminist approach to Grounded Theory in order to analyse four fiction films created and distributed in the US in the 21st century: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Avengers: Infinity War, Erin Brockovich, and mother!. Drawing on Deleuze’s theory of multiplicity, it uses spatio-temporality to facilitate analysis of responsibility and scale as two key registers that impact epistemological understandings of climate change and thus responses that arise. By analysing Three-Act structure and allegory, it demonstrates how narrative devices frame and normalise emotional responses and specifically neoliberal responsibilisation. The key argument is that US Climate Cinema codifies and reinforces sacrifice zones, drawing upon racist, classist, and patriarchal structures to determine who is placed within these sacrifice zones.”
Supervised by Dr. Tiffany Page, this dissertation was submitted to the Department of Sociology of the University of Cambridge in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Sociology of Media & Culture.
To request a copy of this dissertation, please email Michelle at michellecheripka [at] gmail.com.
Visible Poetry Project (2017-2019)
Michelle founded Visible Poetry Project in 2017, and served as Managing Director from 2017-2019. Visible Poetry Project paired 30 poets with 30 filmmakers, who collaborated to transform poems into short films. VPP had 2 key goals: 1) to make poetry accessible through the medium of film, and 2) to provide a platform for artists traditionally underrepresented in poetry and film.
Throughout the month of April (National Poetry Month in the US), VPP released one visual poem each day online. Throughout the year, VPP also hosted international screenings, featuring artist Q&As.
While Michelle served as Managing Director (2017-2019), VPP produced and released 100 videos, including works by Neil Gaiman, Ocean Vuong, and Melissa Lozada-Oliva/Ben Stillerman. VPP became a non-profit, and oversaw film programming for NYC Poetry Festival, the world’s largest poetry festival. It also hosted 15+ independent screenings and events across North America, Europe, and Asia.
VPP has been featured in ByShondaland, NY Times, Bedford + Bowery, and Book Riot, among others.
To learn more about VPP, please visit www.visiblepoetryproject.com.
Like Mother, Like Daughter (2016)
“Like Mother, Like Daughter” is a black and white documentary portrait series following the relationship between her mother and sister, in the year after her sister moved home from college.
A selection of photographs from this series were presented at Columbia University’s Prentis Hall.
CENTO (2016)
Starring five archetypes and set in a beginner’s improv class, CENTO is a devised play, written entirely in quotes.
CENTO was selected and performed as part of the Columbia University Performing Arts League’s Special Project series. CENTO was sponsored by Columbia University’s Miller Arts Initiative.
To watch a trailer for CENTO, please click here.
To read CENTO, please click here (or here for a footnoted version).
Lives of the Hindu Gods in Popular Prints: The Ownership of Imagery (2015)
While at the School for International Training’s India: National Identity & the Arts program, Michelle conducted a month-long art-historical ethnographic study about the mass-production of Hindu imagery.
Throughout her research, she explored how different secular and sacred spaces mediate a person’s relationship to images of the Hindu gods.
To read the report, please click here.
