BFA: Now What?

Been busy...

2008-03-04T21:33:00.001-08:00

At the main studio I have been busy. The bowls need one last coat of paint. The tablecloth needs to be cut. Chairs need one last coat of paint as well. Speakers need to bought. And lastly, everything needs to be wired. Yay! Less than two weeks and counting...

to the clay studio

before the bisque fire

carving the clay

the molds

Updated Artist Statement

2008-02-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

The cold wind raced over the dormant fields. In the spring, the field will be covered with signs of new life but for now there was nothing more than a few hungry mice braving the chill for food. The wind’s icy fingers tapped lightly on the windows of an old farmhouse but were ignored by the family huddled around the kitchen table. The wooden table was old and scarred but shone with polish and love. The people at the table eyed each other suspiciously over the cards each held in their hand, cups of green tea gone cold at their elbows. Each person eyed each other as if trying to read thoughts. No one spoke for there was too much at stake. It was “ameba” so the people who lost would have to pay double. When the last card was thrown the youngest, no more than eight, threw up her arms and yelled “fukeru!” With good-natured groans, the other two players shoved sixteen dimes across the table. The eldest woman shook her head and said to her son, “You’re going to have to watch that one, Katchi”. Katchi looked over at his grinning daughter and rolled his eyes. While a small smile he shuffled the cards and dealt the next round.

Three months later, that same grinning little girl sat at a very different dinning room table 3,000 miles away from the farmhouse. Outside the weather was warming up and a different old man’s flowers were coming into bloom. Inside an old colonial house the last deep notes of “Ein Prosit” hung in the air. A matured woman (she preferred not to be called old) entered the room with a cleaning rag in her hand and a scold ready on her tongue, “You shouldn’t sing such songs in front of our grandchildren! It’s going to teach them the wrong kind of German!” The old man winked at the little girl and the dug into his Friday Night Salad.

Currently, I am exploring the process of how people pass on their cultural identity and how it is assimilated our everyday lives. There are many different ways that we as human beings gain a cultural identity; be it through our ancestry, location, foods, travel, etc. However, I believe that there is one key location where the majority of culture is passed on—the table. The act of sitting down at a table -it could be any table- and having a conversation with another is essential in passing on and receiving culture. It has been in my experience that the table is one of the few places where cultures can cross and meld harmoniously.

The metaphor of the table acts like a bridges between generations, cultures, and it will be the main focal point of my installation. I plan to show videos within five different place settings. These videos will be contained in 5 inch monitors placed within a porcelain bowl. Some of the videos will talk of the Japanese internment camps, others will speak of my Japanese culture; there will be stories from my German side as well. For instance when the Crouchers crossed the Canadian boarder during World War I, no one was allowed to talk except for the children because all of the adults had very strong German accents. However, most of the videos will speak about a meshing of cultural identity, for that is what is in me.

I am not from Japan nor am I from Germany. I am Hapa (Hawai'ain for “half-breed”) and I am American. As such, I have a hybrid of cultural identity. I eat sashimi and nori. I even know how to make sushi. Every year our family gets together for Mochitsuke (a traditional Japanese festival of rice desserts). Every New Year I eat sweet beans and drink sake, also Japanese traditions. I cannot buy, make, or do things that involve the number 4 or 7 due to the unluckiness of those numbers. Onlookers might think this is neurotic but in fact it is part of my Japanese ancestry. I would like to say that I am more comfortable with hashi than a fork, but that would be a lie. Why? Because I am Hapa. I like Friday Night Salad (a Webers' tradition) and I can play cribbage with the best of them.

Thus, I will create films that involve cross-cultural identity, to do justice to what I, and others, have become. My final project will look at the roots of my cultural identity but I hope that it will reach other people as well. Through my own personal narrative I aim to reach out, perhaps to bridge out to a greater cultural identity...our American cultural identity. I hope to make people re-evaluate what is cultural identity, how do we make it, and how we pass it on. In our world, there is so much strife between cultures but if I am an example of how cultures can come together to create a new culture then there is hope. This hope will be represented in the form of a gift that the audience can take with them if they choose to. To take it home, look at it, hold it, and think about how it could apply to their life.

Preview of ideas

2008-02-05T22:13:00.001-08:00

the table...

the bowl...

My studio

2008-02-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

Beautiful primer...

Spray paint, sand, spray paint, sand, spray paint... you get the idea.

Where I do most of my production...

Where I do all my video work..

A more full view of the up stairs

Our discussion corner...

Yay,I have a table! Thank you Jessica

Other images from Tulelake

2008-02-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

a few other images from this trip...

Tulelake

2008-02-05T21:32:00.001-08:00

The single memorial.

Exploring the area.

Made it there. . .

View from the car.

Mom driving us to Tulelake.

Coffee in Klamath Falls. Last stop until Tulelake.

Current Artist statement

2007-11-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

The cold wind raced over the dormant fields. In the spring, the field will be covered with signs of new life but for now there was nothing more than a few hungry mice braving the chill for food. The wind’s icy fingers tapped lightly on the windows of an old farmhouse but were ignored by the family huddled around the kitchen table. The wooden table was old and scared but shone with polish and love. The people at the table eyed each other suspiciously over the cards each held in their hand, cups of green tea gone cold at their elbows. Each person eyed each other as if trying to read thoughts. No one spoke for there was too much at stake. It was “ameba” so the people who lost would have to pay double. When the last card was thrown the youngest, no more than eight, threw up her arms and yelled “fekeru!” With good-natured groans, the other two players shoved sixteen dimes across the table. The eldest woman shook her head and said to her son, “You’re going to have to watch that one, Katchi”. Katchi looked over at his grinning daughter and rolled his eyes. While a small smile he shuffled the cards and dealt the next round.

Much of my cultural identity has come from sitting around a kitchen table. My Grandfather sang German drinking songs, while my Mother taught my siblings and me how to use hashi (known in the United States as chopsticks), I played Hana (a Japanese poker game) with Grandma, Auntie Sachio, Uncle Yukio, and my Father while they discussed farming (losing money to me). These small individual events have contributed to my concept of cross-cultural identity. More importantly they have created in me a perception of who I am, what I have come from, and what I will pass on.
Currently, I am exploring the process of how people pass on their cultural identity and how it is assimilated our everyday lives. There are many different ways that we as human beings gain a cultural identity; be it through our ancestry, location, foods, travel, etc. However, I believe that there is one key location where the majority of culture is passed on—the table. The act of sitting down at a table -it could be any table- and having a conversation with another is essential in passing on and recieving culture. It has been in my experience that the table is one of the few places where cultures can cross and meld harmoniously.
As it is my belief that the table is a bridge between food, generations, and cultures, it will be the main focal point of my exhibit. I plan to show videos on a plain kitchen table, a table that could be found in any given household, that deal with my cultural identity. Some of the videos will talk of the Japanese internment camps, others will speak of my Japanese culture; there will be stories from my German side as well. However, most of the videos will speak about a meshing of cultural identity, for that is what is in me.
I am not from Japan nor am I from Germany. I am Hapa (Japanese for “half-breed”) and I am American. As such, I have a hybrid of cultural identity. I eat sashimi and nori. I even know how to make sushi. Every year our family gets together for Mochitsuke (a traditional Japanese festival of rice desserts). Every New Year I eat sweet beans and drink sake, also Japanese traditions. I cannot buy, make, or do things that involve the number 4 or 7 due to the unluckiness of those numbers. Onlookers might think this is neurotic but in fact it is part of my Japanese ancestry. I would like to say that I am more comfortable with hashi than a fork, but that would be a lie. Why? Because I am Hapa. I like Friday Night Salad (a Weber’s tradition) and I can play cribbage with the best of them.
Thus, I will create films that involve cross-cultural identity, to do justice to what I, and others, have become. My final project will look at the roots of my cultural identity but I hope that it will reach other people as well. I hope to make people re-evaluate what is cultural identity, how do we make it, and how we pass it on. In our world, there is so much strife between cultures but if I am an example of how cultures can come together to create a new culture then there is hope. This hope will be represented in the form of a gift that the audience can take with them if they choose to. To take it home, look at it, hold it, and think about how it could apply to their life.

A few names

2007-11-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

For names we liked:
ALT+Space
Space Out

A few more:
Test Area/ Zone/ 6
Precedent
Proven Space
Mobile/ Shifting Space
Transversing Turf

Substantiation
White light
Well Lit

Pixel Probe
Dynamic Pixels
Affective Pixels
The Pixel Condition
Chronic Pixelation

Rusty's Bar and Grill

Little bit about the project

2007-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

For a little bit of background, I will talk a little bit about my project (as it stands right now):

I will be looking into culture from the viewpoint of a third and fourth generation Japanese-German who was born in Delaware. I would like to explore how we, as Americans, pass on culture and how we assimilate it into our everyday life.