Asian futures, without Asians
Performative Lecture*
(Free public events; tickets required)
Wednesday, March 11, 5:00 pm
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 pm
followed by panel discussion with Preeti Chopra (Visual Studies, South Asian Art & Architecture), Derek Johnson (Media & Cultural Studies; Film), & Nam Kim (Anthropology), moderated by Helen Lee (Glass Lab, Art Department)
Play Circle Theater
Memorial Union, UW-Madison
800 Langdon St. Madison, WI 53706
Glass and Neon Fabrication Demo*
(Free public event)
Friday, March 13, 2:00-5:00pm
UW Glass Lab, Art Lofts
111 N. Frances St., Madison, WI 53703
*Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests.
Co-sponsored by Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, Anonymous Fund, Division of the Arts, University Lectures, Art Department, Theater and Drama, Asian American Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Communication Arts, Center for Design and Material Culture, Interdisciplinary Theater Studies, Art History
Asian futures, without Asians
What does it mean when so many white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people? This is the animating question of Asian futures, without Asians, a multimedia performative lecture by artist Astria Suparak.
Surveying 60 years of mainstream science-fiction cinema, this incisive, poetic, yet accessible work oscillates between humor and gravity. Suparak begins by breaking down the unstable category of “Asian” through a series of maps, regulations, and geopolitical trends — inclusive of East, Southeast, South, West, and Central Asia, as well as North Africa and the Pacific Islands. She draws connections between discriminatory rhetoric and historical legislation with present day anti-Asian and anti-Arab racism, detailing how they intersect with gender, class, and sexuality. In doing so, she reveals deeply embedded prejudices that have become normalized in contemporary visual culture.
This live cinema work, presented as a taxonomy of tropes, is illustrated with over 300 images and clips from futuristic movies and television shows. Accompanied by a live musical soundtrack, Suparak delivers anecdotes, trivia, and documents (including photographs, advertisements, and cultural artifacts) from the histories of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, food, religion, and weaponry. The implications of appropriating, decontextualizing, and misrepresenting Asian cultures while excluding Asian contributors are laid bare.
Biography:
Astria Suparak is an artist and curator based in Oakland, California. Her cross-disciplinary projects address complex and urgent issues (like institutionalized racism, feminisms, and colonialism) made accessible through a popular culture lens, such as science fiction movies, rock music, and sports. Straddling creative and scholarly work, the projects often take the form of publicly available tools and databases, chronicling subcultures and omitted perspectives.
In recent years, Suparak’s creative projects have been exhibited and performed at the Museum of Modern Art and the Ford Foundation Gallery in New York; Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; ArtScience Museum, Singapore; and as part of the For Freedoms billboard series. She has curated exhibitions, screenings, and performances for the Liverpool Biennial; Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City; The Kitchen and MoMA PS1, in New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and Expo Chicago, as well as for unconventional spaces, such as roller-skating rinks, sports bars, and rock clubs. Suparak is the winner of the 2022 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Award.
More information please check out Suparak’s website.