Chop Suey - Project Proposal

*CHOP SUEY*  

Inauthentic Chinese

What do you want to make?

In a previous assessment I showed a photograph of a model in a straw hat at a Chinese restaurant. I specifically chose to use the straw hat because in Dutch carnivals people wear the hat as a way of "dressing up like a chinese". I wanted to take this ridicule away from this hat and turn it around into a fashion item. An item to be proud of as opposed to ashamed.

This story, however, didn't translate into the work, but started to get the ball rolling into why I felt the need to make this work.

The goal of this thesis is to document my process of exploring my mostly Chinese heritage and dealing with my alienation from it.

I will be producing a series of photographs or perhaps a short film following a research period in which I will explore directions through prototyping exploring my family's history coming from China to Surinam and finally to The Netherlands and how it culminated into the person I am today.

I've felt anger, a feeling of unbelonging, but also pride. Pride that I have this unique and complicated background. Pride of being Asian and pride that I have this enormous culture to explore.

Because there are so many different emotions and aspects to this story I am not sure what the outcome will be eventually, so I will be prototyping different visual approaches. I want one possible approach to focus on in my exploration and dealing with my lack of knowledge of the Chinese culture. Firstly I will document the gift shop where I work. Here I will either photograph or film aspects of the shop and describe my involvement, experience or interaction with these aspects. Either in text or voice over.

Second I want to focus on dealing with racism and stereotypes as I've had to deal with them my entire life. I want to explore this area because it has been a big part of my sense of belonging in this country, my insecurities and feeling like a second rate citizen because of not being white.

How do you plan to make it?

My exploration of Chinese culture

For this exploration I will be diving into Ta Hwa, a giftshop I started working in to connect with my Chinese heritage. Ta hwa is like a little exotic Asian bubble in a very Amsterdam street. It’s even in a typical Amsterdam townhouse. I will be producing a sort of documentary style type of series where I describe aspects of the store in relation to my own identity and how I am sometimes confronted with my own very limited knowledge of being Chinese.

The garments hanging in front of the shop are described as “Chinese kimonos” but there really is no such thing as a “Chinese kimono” as kimono’s are of course Japanese. Not even sure if they are a traditionally Chinese garment, or just a silk type bathrobe that western people think is Chinese. I always feel kind of culturally insensitive calling them Chinese kimonos, so I usually call them silk bathrobes.

This is my spot. Sometimes people come into the store and say “Ni Hau”. Usually I think it’s racist, but when I’m in the store I wonder if it’s because they themselves are just interested in Chinese culture and think it’s polite to greet me in Chinese. I always kind of smile back awkwardly because Ni Hau is literally the only Chinese word I know.

For these kinds of observations I am not sure if I will only be doing photography or try darling in filming the store as well and do a voice over.

Family Experiences

Because each member of my immediate family also identifies with different cultures, I would like to see if I can interview them about their own experiences and feelings surrounding growing up and experiencing racism. I might do a video style interview or just do voice memos in combination to portraits of them.

I want to talk to them about our fucked up family dynamics and how it relates to culture, growing up in a different country for my parents and raising children with different a different cultural mindset. As well as all of us dealing with looking Chinese but not feeling it and how each of us cope with it.

An old photo of my mom who got a perm because she didn't like her Chinese straight hair.

Prototypes: Coping and ridicule of Asian stereotypes. 

I grew up having to deal with racial stereotypes and so I coped with it by pretending it didn't bother me, or better yet pretend it was funny and bully the perpetrator back. My sister and I sang the “Hanki Panki Shanghai” song to each other on our birthdays. Sometimes I think the squinty eyes, big teeth, rice hat wearing fella is kind of funny. When I do it.

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  Asian stereotypes

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  Asian Stereotypes

Lately there's been a big uproar about this Krupup packaging which also features the stereotypical Chinese with rice hat. I used this packaging as a prop in the image below, perpetuating this insane stereotype almost like I'm saying "hey maybe we do look like that in our free time!"

"Maybe I do chill like that, you don't know"

I went to the Museum of Chinese in America in New York (Moca) and discovered a bunch of Chinese caricature drawings where the Chinese men were the scary Fu Man Chu.

In the movie "Freaky Friday" they also featured a Chinese lady who cast a "Chinese voodoo" on the main characters. When I was messing around I shot a photo that kind of looked like I was doing a magic spell and I immediately thought of that. Only it had more of a Kiki's delivery service vibe, which I was okay with!

"She did something! Some strange Asian voodoo!" - Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday (2003)

My plan is to make these rough prototypes using myself at first. I am not sure if I will be using myself later on.

What is your timetable?

November/December

• Researching: I have received some great material from Natasha about this subject for my thesis which I would like to review and possibly draw inspiration from.

• Prototyping and experimenting: During this phase I will do a lot of prototyping of my ideas in a more achievable way. This will not include any over the top styling, but will just be me bringing my ideas to life as rough prototypes. I will be possibly be experimenting more with film also.

• Reflection: I then want to review this work with tutors who are knowledgeable and passionate about this subject in order to see how to go from here.

Januari/ februari

• From prototypes to a real plan: During this time I would like a clearer view of what I want my work to actually be. By this time I would like to have a plan on what I want on screen, how I will be doing it and what I want it to look like aesthetically.

• Planning for production and exhibiting: I will be planning for possible ways of exhibiting my work.

• Reflection

March/april

• Final work, hopefully: Hopefully by this time I will have a real plan along with my prototypes. These two combines will result in a final work whether that is photography, film or both.

• Exhibition and publication: Once I have my final work, will have a clearer view of what the publication and exhibition plan will look like.

Who can help you and how?

Other transnational people

As for the unbelonging aspect I would like to talk to more people who also feel like they don’t belong to any one culture and why we feel the way we do. Reason for this is to also debunk my own made-up ‘criteria’ for when someone ‘belongs’ to a culture.

My family

I do need to interview my family!

Asian Models

For the acceptance and ridicule of Asian stereotypes I would like to work with other Asians willing to model these stereotypes so that we can create these types of offensive scenes and turn them around as a way of empowering ourselves!

Relation to a larger context

While this specific story might be personal to me, the feeling of unbelonging is something many people struggle with and a growing number of people will be struggling with. As travel becomes easier, the world gets to be smaller and more people will procreate with someone of a different culture. Schools these days are more and more mixed. We are already living in a world where lots of people come from multiple heritages and there is almost no place for the gatekeeping of these cultures.

It would be nice to have other people see this work and relate to this aspect of it so that we can perhaps create an open dialog.

References/Bibiography

To start with:

• White Innocence - Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race by Gloria Wekker
• From orientalism to ornamentalism by Alyssa Russell
• Subversion of Stereotypes: Chinese art and Echo Morgan by Luise Guest
• World Of Interiors by Aurelia Guo

Terms:

• Transational
• Diasporic
• Unbelonging