In honor of International Women’s Day, I am reflecting on the women in my life who have guided me through musical journey.
First and foremost is my mother. Whenever I tell people that I am a musician, they’ll say something like “I used to play piano but I hated practicing and quit. I wish I had kept going!” To that I say, “me too!” I wanted to quit basically every single day when I was in middle school. If it wasn’t for my mom forcing me to practice, I definitely would have quit. She drove me to all of my lessons and rehearsals, paid for instruments, summer camps, and private lessons, and she had to endure ten years of hearing me squeak away on violin and viola. My dad was also instrumental (ha) in my musical development, but it’s International Women’s Day so the man can wait.
Two out of the three main viola teachers in my life have been women. Thanks to them, I have glowing examples of what it looks like to be a professional woman in music. Through their guidance and cautionary tales, I have become a strong musician and an ally to other women and girls in the industry. With their help I have been able to heal the injuries I sustained from playing. I have always had the freedom to show emotion during my lessons, and even cry if I had to. Learning to play an instrument puts you in a vulnerable position and some days you can’t just leave your feelings at the door. I am forever grateful for their patience and skill.
My best friends are female musicians. We didn’t all become friends in the same place– some at music camp, some at music school, some in high school. We’re spread out across the globe. Each one has played music with me. Each one has provided me with moral support after a bad audition or in the midst of an identity crisis. Every day I feel like I’m talking with one of them about the screwed-up climate of the music world: what we want to change and how we’ll change it. We also help eachother forget about music when things get too tough; remind ourselves of the value in living a balanced life. They inspire me to be a better musician and person, and I wouldn’t be myself without them.
It is day 2 of break. I am currently at my grandparents, listening to Italian music(on Alexa because they are cool), and watching my grandma cook me vegan options for dinner(vegetable soup). We talk about things going on and every so often she will say things like, “You can’t have ham either right?”, “No milk?! What do you drink or even eat then? Almond milk, that’s disgusting.”, or “Can you have cheese? Oh my goodness what am I going to give you for lunch then?” I am sitting at a nearby table as we talk, typing away on my computer about things on my mind.
My post(ramble) today is about one of the subjects on my mind right now, history. Enjoy!
History is one of the most significant topics to be educated about and don’t get me wrong I love history but it is without a doubt one of the weirdest concepts to me. We need to know about our pasts in order to learn how to create a better future but I am always curious if what we are taught about history is the truth.
As a kid, everyone plays the game telephone. Someone starts off with a saying and everyone whispers into the next person’s ear what they heard. By the end something like “chicken noodle soup” can turn into “fruit of the loom underwear”. I used to love it because I enjoyed how each time the original saying got altered in some sort of way. With history books, media, and news, I am constantly interested if it is created from a continuous game of telephone and if the only people who can seek the actual truth are the individuals who were involved in the event.
In a conversation with my uncle yesterday, he began to ask if I knew that before the horrible Transatlantic Trade occurred, that poor people from multiple countries were the original individuals to first work in the colonies. I told him I had known that and he told me he had just discovered this. This discussion began me going off into a spiral of what I have and have not been taught. All the little events or even secrets not contained in documents, on file, and unable to be taught to anyone. Or the stories recently discovered, taught to the younger generation but not to me. My deepest concerns and curiosities are about all of the things the first Americans did on the colonies and what people have done to less evolved cultures that I don’t know about or will never know about.
A couple of weeks ago in my Art History lecture, my professor explained how in many famous artworks cultural appropriation can be found. In Pablo Picasso’s, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, one can easily see the five nude prostitutes he had painted but if you were to look at their faces what would it remind you of? We were told that Picasso studied many African masks and he had been inspired by them to paint these women with faces like the masks. In previous art history classes I was taught that his form of cubism created these faces. This was the first time I was educated about how he had taken someone else’s culture and profited off of it by making it look like his own style. I wondered how many other artists had done this and how we could ever find out if we didn’t have a direct link.
I would count myself as a student or rookie in learning and talking about stolen cultural identity and other topics relating to examining history. I believe no one really questions our history but rather if they do in conversation, they shove it away quickly because it is confusing. I have done this multiple times because looking at history under a lens is difficult and sometimes leaves me with unanswered questions. I think in the future many should question what is truthful and try to gather all the information we have to connect the dots of our past. Although I don’t know much about this topic as you can probably tell, this doesn’t stop me from being interested about it and branching off into thought about it, even when my grandma is cooking me soup.
For a my first Sophomore Studio art project, I attempted to address my identity. I was born and raised in the United States, but a lot of my life has been influenced by my parents’ culture. At a young age, both my mother and father immigrated to American from Vietnam and haven’t been back since. In my generation, I believe it is common for young Asian Americans to feel uneasy in their cultural identity–we seem to be stuck between two worlds: Asian and American. We don’t always feel like we quite fit in, or maybe we can’t speak our own language, resulting in tension and shame. I created these engraved chopsticks and modern paper packaging to try to address these aspects of the Asian American experience. Several pairs focus on the model minority stereotype, and depict sayings that people say to Asian Americans, while the “Asian Disappointment” version detail phrases that parents may say to their children. I aimed to foster a sense of unity among Asian Americans and give an opportunity to reflect on and laugh at stereotypes. Hope you enjoy!
Nothing will make me quite as angry as tourism, under the guise of a study abroad program.
I am tired. Tired of seeing one too many pictures of people posing in third world countries pretending to identify with the lifestyle. Do not try to lay claim to a cultural identity that is not your own. You are a visitor and will always be a visitor because your time there is temporary. Spending a few months in Asia does not make you Asian, just like spending a few months in Africa does not make you African. A rice worker’s hat is not your prop. A kimono is not just a fashion statement. A hijab is not a decoration. The culture of other is not a backdrop for your Instagram self-expression. Rather, engage in ethical practices of honoring, appreciating, and supporting the culture of other.
Having deep appreciation for a place is so very different from using a place to create social capital for yourself. By posting appropriated pictures documenting your exotic journey abroad, you reduce another’s culture to a quick snapshot that is able to be scrolled past without a second glance. Think about what you are posting it for. For likes and comments? To cross “travel the world” off you our bucket list? To add “well-traveled” to your personality? We are in an age where everyone wants to “embrace” other cultures by posting these seemingly cute pictures, without actually supporting the people of that culture. This enables people to remain ignorant to the fact that they’re only perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
To make the most of your time away, do your research. When you enter a new space, understand that you are not just bringing yourself. You carry rich histories with you—stories of the people who came before you, of the country you’re from, and of what you’ve lived. Know that your presence transcends the bounds of your body, understand what you are representing, and take responsibility for your role in your own narrative. Especially coming from the United States; it’s of utmost importance to understand your role as an American given the deep rooted and far-extending ideals of colonialism, imperialism, and globalism birthed from our early predecessors and arguably, maintained by present day power structures. Recognize your place and reflect on the assets that allow you to leave your own country.
Definitions for Thought
Cultural appropriation—adoption of elements of one culture by members of another culture; can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures because of the presence of power imbalances that are a byproduct of colonialism and oppression.
Social capital—network of connections with people that allow you to succeed in a social environment; a form of insulation or protection from adversity because of support derived from social status.
Insensitivity—lack of awareness or ability to respond to something; lack of concern for others’ feelings.
Exoticism—the representation of one culture for consumption by another; often involved surrounding foreign cultures with mystique and fantasy, which owed more to European culture than to the exotic cultures themselves; process of glamorization and stereotyping.
By far one of my favorite things that comes along with being a student here is going to the Penny W. Stamps Speaker Series on Thursday nights at the Michigan Theater. All Stamps students are required to go every week, and others outside of the Art and Design school are welcome to come to the free event as well. The speaker series was founded by alumna, Penny W. Stamps, and it is a collective of professional creators from a wide range of art fields. The Stamps Series always creates some sort of inspiration and that is one of the many reasons why it has a special place in my heart.
This week a Seattle based artist, Clyde Peterson came to speak. His medium is usually animation but he dabbles with multimedia work to spread word of his stories and his music.
Routinely, before I go to the lecture I look up the artist who is speaking. Clyde is a part of the transgender and queer community, has created an animated feature length film, and has won a bunch of awards. I was excited for this lecture, and as soon as he stepped on stage and began his casual conversation like speech I became thrilled. His way of speaking was refreshing because he wasn’t talking down to anyone in the audience but rather with us. Clyde began to tell stories of his college life and how he began as a filmmaker and animator. He has one specific project that stood out to me the most called, Boating With Clyde.
It began 10 years ago and rather than his animation films this is a “nautical adventure series” created by Peterson, that presents musicians and artists from all over the world on the waterways of Puget Sound in Seattle(https://www.clydepetersen.com/bio). The area where the shows take place only allows row boats, so Clyde decided to create a community that bonds over making music on the water in this uncomfortable yet beautiful place. He took videos of these performances and made the project be an installation at a gallery by “tricking” them with creating a set for the film. After the first gallery accepted Boating with Clyde, it was easier to get more opportunities for this project. Clyde explained in his presentation that he loves engaging with the project, hence why it has gone on for ten years. He goes in and out of working on this project but he always seems to come back to it because of his love for what he and others have built off of it. He has a “do what you want and love” personality, which has made him struggle with money at times but overall enjoy what he is doing with his life. Clyde Peterson, is an inspiration because of the way he freely has chosen to live life and create art.
Although I have mainly talked about Boating With Clyde, Clyde Peterson has also created many other unique projects which can be found on his website. In addition, checkout his instagram @fuck_you_im_clyde_petersen !!!
I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin for a class in the last month, and I’m stunned at the aftermath it had on American culture. From traveling theatre companies with white actors in blackface, to little collectable postcards; from children’s picture books of the slave narrative, to framed lithographs that middle-class families could hang up over their mantelpieces– popular American culture hooked onto the soap-opera-like novel and profited greatly from its popularity. And it got me thinking: people love to commodify black culture when it is beneficial, and drop it the moment it’s deemed un-cool or unprofitable. It’s written deep into America’s history, and keeps emerging in contemporary culture as well– the most recent I can think of being Ariana Grande’s subtle but unmistakable plagiarism of lyrics from black rappers and hip-hop artists. I’d always been conscious of the magnitude of cultural appropriation in America, but it was until reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin that I realized the full scope of America’s entrenched history in stealing or distorting marginalized cultures for profit. It’s disgusting.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written in installments in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a white abolitionist. The book reads like a soap-opera: overly dramatic with characters breaking out in sudden all-important realizations and constantly crying; the black characters and their lives are romanticized and the “good” white characters are often portrayed as being saviors (see: little Eva). Though it attempts to humanize slaves– a concept quite foreign to nineteenth century Americans– Stowe, as a comfortable white woman from the North who has experienced not even a fraction of what the characters in her book have experienced. In short, it relies heavily on stereotypes and caricatures. The book’s overall aim is to resist the institution of slavery, and it was wildly successful at that aim; but just because it’s anti-slavery certainly didn’t make it anti-racist.
I think these points of in-authenticity allowed people to capitalize on the success of the book. In today’s parlance, Uncle Tom’s Cabin went viral. As my professor put it, it spread like an internet meme. Lots of knick-knacks and household collectible were created, many paintings, records, children’s picture books, translations, postcards. My class visited the Clement’s library behind Hatcher to view some of these pieces; here are some examples:
Eliza crosses the Ohio River which divides slave states from non-slave states. She looks practically white.Collectable postcards from Uncle Tom’s Cabin.The letter from Terry’s Big Two Car Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company.
There were even traveling theatre companies that performed Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a play for entertainment, mainly with white actors in blackface. In a letter from one such theatre company to the owner of a theatre, the company explains that they have not only white actors, but black actors, describing the black actors in language I’m too disgusted to reproduce here. I was stunned and horrified, the irony of the situation painfully bitter. These companies were using slaves for their own gain. They took an anti-slavery book and used it for profit while perpetuating the very thing the book tried to destroy. And then it hit me– of course. America won’t give up racism until it’s not economically beneficial. And for all of its history, racism has been wildly beneficial.
It’s why we still see atrocious rates of mass incarceration of black men, why we see police brutality, why we see blatant acts of cultural appropriation by celebrities. It’s economically beneficial. Ariana Grande, with visibly darker and tanned skin, her lyrics thick with a “blackcent”, her music videos with black girls as a way to “make up” for her appropriation, and the outright plagiarism of her lyrics, adds to this recurrent narrative. Of course, just like all the actors from the theatre company, and like the creators of Uncle Tom’s Cabin paraphernalia, and perhaps even like Stowe, Ariana Grande and so many other people of privilege will walk away unscathed, leaving behind a population that continues to be hurt and injustice that goes on, and on, and on.
All images courtesy of University of Michigan’s Clements Library. Special thanks to Professor Sara Blair from the English Department and Clayton Lewis, Curator of Graphics Material at the Clements Library.
References: La Case de L’Oncle Tom. / Heroisme de L’Amour Maternal. Paris: Chez Mine´, [ca. 1850s]. [Lithograph broadside, hand colored]
Onkel Tom’s Hütte. Serie 2. Elmshorn, Holstein: Wagner & Co., [ca. 1928]. [Six color lithograph collecting cards]
Terry’s Big Two-Car Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company. [Little Sioux, Iowa]: Terry’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Co. circa 1910. [Promotional circular letter]
