Art may be a part of culture, but my culture is not your art.

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.

 

(Image credit: Google images)

All Aboard!

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 !!!

 

The Commodification of Black Culture: From Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Ariana Grande

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]

Are Water Bottles a Status Symbol?

Water bottles–they’re an essential daily item that nearly everyone uses. But a number of magazines and websites have questioned the object themselves, as it appears that expensive reusable water bottles have become a status symbol among young people in the current era. Just as items like headphone brands or winter jackets, people carry around certain brands of water bottles that are intended to suggest a specific type of lifestyle and personality.

I think it’s intriguing how different social groups may adopt niche trends–namely water bottle trends. At my high school, the cool, sleek thing to have was a S’well bottle. Among the outdoorsy, active groups, you’re more likely to find a large Nalgene or Camelbak bottle. Among well-off students of all kinds at the University of Michigan, Hydroflasks are the big must-have item. Reusable bottles in general can suggest a variety of things–for one, the person cares about the environment–and that’s a great thing. Perhaps the person lives a very active lifestyle, and needs constant hydration. If the water bottle is pricier, it suggests that the person has the financial resources to afford such an object. With the addition of stickers, the personalization opportunities open up a whole new world of status.

Of course, expensive water bottles are also functional–they boast hours of insulation for cold and hot beverages, durability, and a long lifespan. It’s worth looking at the division between needing a well-designed water bottle for daily use, or purchasing an expensive, aesthetically-pleasing bottle because everyone else has the hottest trend and you want to fit in. I’m still not sure where I stand on this issue, I think it’s more complicated than a simple answer. What do you think?

The Value of Role Models In the Art World

I don’t like being an English major very much. I’m grateful for the opportunity to study at a university with such knowledgeable faculty and abundant resources, but if I had to do these last four years of my life over again I would definitely change my major to communications because I love pop culture so much. The one thing that makes me happy about studying literature is that I get to take creative writing classes and write a thesis in fiction by doing the creative writing sub-concentration in the English major.

The only thing I want to do with my English degree is write. I don’t want to write just any stories; I want to write stories about people with underrepresented identities like me, and I want to write a blend of literary fiction and horror. I got to see a professional  writer do just that this Monday, January 21st, when Literati bookstore had a fiction reading with Kristen Roupenian. She wrote the short story “Cat Person” that was published in The New Yorker and quickly went viral. She now has a short story collection out and is working on a novel and a film for the cinephile’s movie studio of choice, A24. Hearing her talk about how emotion drives the blend of drama and horror of her plots focused on female desire and male entitlement as her girlfriend interviewed her and moderated a Q-and-A session with the audience felt familiar and affirming, like seeing someone  charting a path through a difficult terrain you’re planning to hike but aren’t convinced you’ll get through.

I got my copy of her new short story collection signed and told her she inspired me to stick with the English degree to write a creative writing thesis that is drawn on influences similar to hers. I also told her that I found it interesting how she saw horror as existing in a continuum when my English professor of horror literature taught from a textbook that said “real horror” is the supernatural like monsters, while the horror of real life tragedies falls more into the realm of realistic fiction. She said that was absolutely ridiculous and it felt good to know your writing can be appreciated on your own terms regardless of what academics have to say about it.  Seeing her success makes me feel validated in what inspires my own writing and makes me feel that trying to become a writer is not such a stupid goal like I thought.

What stood out about Roupenian’s short story is that it put into words how women feel pressured into accommodating men who want to hurt them because society seems to invest more energy in teaching girls to be agreeable and passive than in preventing abuse. The fact this story with a realistic young woman as a protagonist had been published in The New Yorker, the most well-known literary magazine in the country, was seen as a huge achievement for better representation of white middle-class women. I want to be the change I see in the world, and it’s very encouraging to see others succeed with the same intent.

The Myth of the Model Minority

Recently I have embarked on a new art project on how my identity has been shaped and how I am seen by others. As an Asian American, I sometimes feel out of place–I was born in the United States and can barely speak my native language, so does that really make me Asian? On the other hand, my racial identity is something impervious to social forces–I am and will always be Asian American. Specifically, to inform my project, I recall things people have said to me or even things that my parents have said to me.

One common stereotype is the myth of the model minority. Asians are often portrayed as nerdy, awkward, and high-achieving; as an extreme example, they might spend all their free time when not studying to be a doctor playing the piano or the violin. Seemingly, they are an example to others of how the American Dream can be attained through hard work. While some people, Asian or not, are able to attain success and wealth by diligent work, which is impressive and quite amazing, the model minority stereotype is problematic and dangerous.

Stereotypes are considered harmful, even if they seem to depict a certain group in a favorable light. Yet the model minority myth popularized in media categorizes an entire racial group into one box. Despite the many different identities people carry, being Asian immediately labels you. It erases other significant facets of one’s identity. This is especially deleterious to mental health. When a person of a specific group is expected to perform to a certain level, it puts a great amount of pressure on them, as if they are representing the entire group despite being just one person with intersectional identities. That stress can heavily contribute to anxiety and depression among a host of other mental illnesses, and is considered burdensome for a race that is always portrayed as quiet and never needing to speak up. Beyond surface level, the stereotype of the model minority can be very damaging in the long run.

The bottom line is, not all Asian Americans fit into this tiny constructed mold. Some do, and that’s okay. It’s important to consider the big picture and remember that everyone is unique.