+ CARDINAL'S BAY +
Draining my energy with crack-adjacent stimulus, I could no longer operate while reels, followers, and attention-seeking systems dominated the platform.
I needed to separate myself from the consumer-driven content. Therefore, I made the decision to delete my Instagram last month and prioritize this website for my portfolio and LinkedIn for outreach.
Contact me via email for interest: ripperchassis@gmail.com.
March 9th, 2026
Whirrrrrr. Paper outputs from the printer tray. I had spent three weeks gathering the necessary information and material to print flyers and pitch to ADO (Art and Design Organization) the Ripper Chassis Collective.
But exams were coming up, and I had hours of reading to finish. As I skated towards the Visual Arts building, I thought I should sit on the stairs and finish my assignments as they chalk. Yet the chalk, the bright vibrancy, and an open canvas gravitated me to walk closer towards the box and hand-select magenta and turquoise.
Now displayed in front of the Visual Arts building is my name, Noey, and although the club advisor disagreed with its placement so close to the stairs, it's still there, readily available for crowds to soak in.
Preserved smack dab in the middle, "Noey" was selected and masked from concrete grays and surrounded by caricatures of lesser known internet figures within our generation. More to tell next rain.
September 17th, 2025, 12:15–3:00pm
"Holy [*****]"
"This is a masterpiece bro"
"I can definitely see how much effort u put into this"
"Especially the interviews"
"Was this for ur college assig—"
The CARDINAL'S BAY: The East's Side's Wings is two-hundred-eighty-four pages of photographs, interviews, articles, and artworks based at Mt Pleasant High School and ESSJ.
The first edition my class saw was collage, stuffed full to the brim, and critiques said they "didn't know where to look." You readers can view the outrageous first edition here.
I was taking inspiration from full bleed graff magazines, where pages left no gaps for white space. The shine off the gloss...the impactful colors...and their pages flowed horizontally along lines. Meanwhile, the CARDINAL'S BAY blurred between images, the sections blurred, there was no resolution.
I showed my mom the magazines at the dentist. Prior she was scrolling through her phone, and kept clicking by pages. I told her, "Why not pinch to see closer?" But she kept clicking and clicking until she stated—"I like this page." "What!?" I responded, "This was the easier page to make! I only put down one photo and called it a day!"
And later on that day, I was polishing the magazine when my mom's words blew up in my face. "I really should resize these pages..."
The exchange marked the CARDINAL'S BAY's shift from collage to full on editorial. No matter how awful something might look initially, believe in the process, and you'll end up blowing away other's faces instead of your own. Trust in your work; the process is continuous.
May 14th–August 30th, 2025
Appreciate @incogneezee again for the invite.
Speeding down the interstate, my mom gunned towards my location after dropping my sister off at work. I asked her to bring my camera, but she "didn't see my message" and I was trapped in the same wacky clothes amidst visiting my relatives.
Back home, my batteries were fully charged. I messaged Paul (incogneezee) the new ETA—offset by an hour than what we decided prior—and we tapped the navigation, maneuvering the speediest route.
"Twenty-five dollars!?" my mom exclaimed as we entered the South Hall Parking Lot. I asked her, "Is the parking garage cheaper?", but she silently continued on to find an open space. A group was heading back to their car. "Ask if they're leaving", she said, and I rolled down the window. They drove a solid white sedan, wore dark sunglasses, and their eyebrows jumped when we dropped the question. "Take our ticket!" the man replied as he stuck his tongue out, which, after she saw his cross, my mom signed with "God bless you!"
The GPS displayed us as one block away from King of the Street. I clenched my bag as we walked through the alleyway...until I heard the music: Too $hort, Mac Dre, The Luniz—I kept these artists on my repeat YouTube Music playlist. The lowriders parked diagonally across S Almaden Blvd, and we made our way towards the center of the Hop Pit.
August 10th, 2025, 12:30am–4:00pm
Mikanie and I planned all the way past last year's December, but I never saw the assets that Mikanie sent in, so they didn't go into production until I saw her again during Saturday school.
These are 4 x 6 inch prints from CVS. Go grab some before xmas starts up by emailing ripperchassis@gmail.com
December 15th–July 25th, 2025
Paul (incogneezee) messaged me one evening and said, "It's official. Next Thursday. I have 3–5 lowriders." He also attached a permission slip.
I still wasn't sure what was "official", but since I was available I said, "Tight I'll be there", and I emailed a signed digital copy of the slip.
Parked by the left-side mural, the lowriders and a red motorcycle were already on display. Paul introduced me to the cars and their owners while the other Photographer, @sjlens1408 shot at a low angle.
I helped myself to the metallic green towards end, and simultaneously pictured various compositions in my mind. The final shots are available through my album compilation:
Low Rider Show New Hope For Youth
July 3rd, 2025, 11:00am–3:00pm.
Ever since the NYC TRIP magazine, I had taken so many photographs from the local school events that I needed some way to get the public to see them. Then during one sleepless camping trip, I crafted all these ideas in my head of how layouts could hold the photos and interviews. These highlighted the "Mt Pleasant Culture", the original name for the magazine.
I spent the better part of a month going to after school events and gathering interviews and campus photos to compile them in the magazine. So far it's one-hundred-eighty pages, and I still have more content to add.
May 14th–July 28th, 2025
This was my first time at a parade; I wasn't sure where to stand. The entire King Rd was blocked off, and I saw various people sitting on chairs they brought. A security guard was station by the corner I was by, so I asked the guy, "Where's the best place to stay?" And he said, "We're by the park, so any place near here is fine." But I didn't fully understand his response since I thought we'd be having to travel with the parade the entire time.
After getting shots of King Rd, I stationed myself further north and gathered where the paraders were starting up. The mariachis were playing brass instruments while the folklorico dancers watched, and I didn't see the other photographers since I assume they weren't wandering around like I was.
I got there before the performers were set into the parade. The audience doesn't always notice, but before taking part in the spotlight, performers feel anticipation rushing out as joy, excitement, and other powerful emotions. Many people were smiling and wove flags as they marched towards the park. I hope to bring my family to the next.
May 5th, 2025, 8:30am–1:30pm.
Man, when I take footage, I get in the zone. When people asked me, "How'd you like the PRIDE Lesson?" I'd say, "I got quality footage, but I don't remember what went on..."
Take a day or two; I'd be splicing the clips on Premiere Pro. "What the heck, this teacher rammed straight into a girl 😂!" I'd think, and, "Woah! Mr. Lobert finally made a shot!"
The day after, I was practicing my longboard and there'd be kids playing ball on the blacktops, some people were watching, some lined up. The Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) team later discussed the event in their meeting, and they celebrated how much reach they got to the crowd.
People just like basketball. there's always movement to look at and whiffers to mock. I wouldn't edit another video of it though cause that takes way too long...
Edit March 9, 2026: I really used Photoshop AI generation for the background 😂.
March 13th, 2025
Immediately I had the idea to make figurines revolve around a ball, then started cutting out silhouettes of cars, buildings, paraphernalia, and pedestrians, but I only had the idea to use kids once I started placing objects towards the middle.
Because the artwork's made in perspective, I'd have to be on top of the object or towards the upwards angle to belong in the scenery while the rest of the front shot objects would be placed by the side, and the photos I had the most of like this were my little brothers. The rest of the meaning was interpreted afterwards.
Jan 12th, 2025
Picture this: we take the mutli-eye fish from the Simpson's Movie, switch it to chihuahuas, and add nucular waste to the lake instead of pig dump. The color scheme just seemed to click after that, red and yellow stands for nukes, green and yellow stands for nukes, and the three of them combined adds a hint of nukes with danger and nature.
The original prints were on Mr. Dang's paper rolls, but painting the whole sheet would take hours that I didn't have, so I discarded the paper and tried my luck at the local CVS down White Rd. Not bad for $20.
The environmental club did all the planning, I only featured my flagship artwork at the front. The festival was coordinated to occur at the same time as a theater performance, so the guests would snoop through the artworks as they pass by. Props to Environmental for setting an audience for my work and their intelligence in making the festival reality.
November 20th–22nd, 2025
The crew, Melanie, Daniel, and I, were to the side of the theater during lunchtime, putting up posters, flyers, and the NYC TRIP for the Club Rush. Almost everyone who stopped by took a flyer. At that point, I was sending out checks and all the nearby vicinity cashed them into their safe-house backpacks.
We created a Ripper Chassis group chat on IG and had a Ripper Chassis Gartic Phone/Roblox session. But only people that I personally invited to had contributed to our collaborations. Now, my next collective's gonna be an invite-only art crew that will be based online and in the broader Bay Area. This way I don't gotta stick my head out for the wishy-washy.
September 20th, 2025
I obtained my grounded writing style through my time at the Literacy Society. Not many people know, but I was there every Thursday until its members fell through and the meetings stopped. Inside features poetry and photographs from the Mt Pleasant 2024, including some embarrassing works that I wish were kept to myself.
Purchase "TACENDA" from the Mt Pleasant bank for $14.99.
June, 2025
NYC, the first place that I picked up a camera, the first class TRIP I took outside of California, and the first magazine that I ever produced. When I went to that city, I was coming in thinking that I'd make a film. I mean, I even took more photographs than video; that really shows that I had no plan whatsoever.
But dang, the Canon shots came out tight! I was using a telephoto 100mm lens, and each photograph came out high contrast, sharp, and detailed. Screwing up with that Canon was impossible! Although, the length did set me back—I could only gather extreme close ups and resorted to my Iphone 11 for landscape shots.
The close ups turned out clean for the magazine because the collage style layouts each had the same focal weight and detail that I didn't need to mess around with. The most time consuming part of the process ended up being simply putting the layouts together, and it took until the first month of school to finishing printing.
I'll leave the NYC TRIP details for the magazine. Email ripperchassis@gmail.com for purchase.
March 31st–April 5th, 2024
