Project Proposal Muyang Teng

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🐙 Octopus in Drag 🐙

Preface

Pinkwashing at Berlin Pride

Recently, I've become very interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict, especially with the changing public opinion. It seems that support for Israel has decreased significantly while support for Palestine has become almost unanimous. This shift reminded me of the concept of pinkwashing, which refers to Israel's efforts to promote itself as LGBTQ-friendly in order to reshape the narrative of the occupation of Palestine. According to Jasbir K. Puar, pinkwashing is an example of homonationalism, where the treatment of homosexuals is used to determine a nation's sovereignty and self-determination. Israel is often seen as a pioneer of homonationalism, using the acceptance of certain homosexual bodies to justify their violent occupation of Palestine. The United States and Israel are the main beneficiaries of homonationalism globally, through their financial, military, and ideological connections.

The Netherlands is widely regarded as a leading advocate for LGBT rights and has a strong LGBT pride movement. However, there are concerns that this focus on LGBT issues may marginalize non-white ethnic groups. I argue that the Netherlands is a prime example of a country where the promotion of LGBT rights is closely tied to national identity and may be used for political purposes.

Introduction

I am interested in producing an animated portrayal of an octopus, a creature that has often been associated with the "yellow peril" metaphor in Western culture. The term "yellow peril" is a racist concept that depicts people from East and Southeast Asia as a danger to the Western world. This idea emerged during the 19th century when Western imperialism was expanding, and it portrayed East Asians as inferior beings with extraordinary abilities. I'm not interested in the historical use of the "yellow peril", I'm interested in my experience of racism as a Chinese/Asian folx( focus on gay identity ) in the Netherlands. "Chinese people will do any cheap job" has become "Asian sluts will suck all cocks of any other races." I wanted to introduce the concept of "toxicity" and let the octopus perform a destructive drag show.

Animation & On-Site Shooting

The animation will begin by showcasing a misaligned, fragmented, and indistinct octopus that is illuminated by a powerful yellow light. This visual approach aims to depict the misrepresented image of Asia in different forms of media, such as pornography and news, as well as the racial stereotypes imposed on various Asian communities. It starts with a “mug shot” of the octopus, a typical frame of this violent history of visualization, and then gradually zooms out. In the main part of the animation, I am drawing inspiration from the work Toxic by Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz. I plan to feature the octopus performing a drag show, through which I aim to delve into the themes of toxic and toxicity. This includes exploring how substances and individuals can pose a threat to and disrupt traditional ideas of purity and stability.

Chinatown in Rotterdam is a significant setting for filming due to its vibrant community of people of color. However, there is a negative perception associated with Chinatown, linking it to criminal activities such as theft and drug trafficking. Chinatown is a complex place that holds historical and cultural significance, but it is also limited to a specific location. This creates a juxtaposition of both a real and imagined place. Ming Wong, a Singaporean artist, challenges these stereotypes in his artwork by portraying figures that are disorienting and elusive as they navigate through the alleyways of Chinatown. These ever-changing identities reflect the continuous evolution of Chinatown, blurring the lines between what is familiar and unfamiliar, present and absent, and creating a sense of non-place within a place.

Analysis & Text

In terms of the text, it will analyze why Asian gay men are unwelcome in the Netherlands, including how I feel marginalized as an Asian gay man in my daily life mainly through the:

  1. How homonormativity and homonationalism have contributed to the emergence of everyday discourse and government policies of discrimination against regions without “liberal Western values”. This is inspired by The Against Nature Journal and Gloria Wekker's White Innocence.
  1. The discussion of discrimination and preference, pornography and freedom, rape and racial injustice, pleasure and power, capitalism and liberation. This one was inspired by The Right to Sex written by Amia Srinivasan.
  1. The debates between raceplay and racism (a lot of Asians put their preference for finding a "white big dick" in their profile; Many raceplay videos on porn sites and Twitter). This is inspired by Susanne Schotanus’s writing.
  1. Neoliberal co-optation of gay masculinities, especially on Grindr. This is inspired by Issue #4 - The Speculative Issue, Awhãm Magazine.
  1. …

Timetable

I've done most of the theory reading and finished the first version of the script, it's very long and wordy and I'll need to revise it once some of the images are produced.

  1. By November: Finishing the first version of the script; Designing the octopus avatar
  1. November: Revising the text; Creating the first scene
  1. December: Filming Chinatown; Revising the text; Designing the next scenes
  1. January: Revising the text; Designing the action of the octopus drag show; Production of animation
  1. February: Revising the text; Production of animation
  1. March: Revising the text; Production of animation; Designing sound
  1. April: Designing installation; Color Grading
  1. May: Designing installation; Mixing sound
  1. June: Finishing installation

Creative Motivation & Theoretical Background

Dutch Racism against Asians

White Dutch on Grindr using the Dutch flag or the EU flag
This year in Rotterdam, I have experienced numerous instances of verbal and physical racist attacks. The severity of these attacks has escalated, particularly on dating apps and the internet. One incident that deeply impacted me occurred in September when a man physically attacked me at Blaak station. Unfortunately, the police took no action regarding this case. To bring attention to the issue, I shared my experience on Chinese social media. Many Chinese individuals in Rotterdam expressed similar experiences and voiced their concerns about the Dutch police's lack of responsibility. It is disheartening to see an increase in racial discrimination against Asians this year, which can be attributed to the worsening global political and economic conditions.

The phrase "No Asians" is unfortunately still used within the LGBTQ+ community and it often goes unchallenged. It was only after the BLM movement that dating apps agreed to remove their ethnicity filters. However, even after these changes, I still experience being blocked by many people when they view my profile.

A common "like Asian" white man on Grindr, usually over 50. Looking for Asians in their 20's and 30's.

Non-Asians tend to racialize and fetishize Asian individuals. Many Asian users on the app opt for blank profiles or choose to display body pictures with self-deprecating and objectifying descriptions in order to attract sexual partners of other races. This situation makes it challenging for Asian individuals to connect with others in their own community, as there may be a belief among Asians that they are considered unattractive and lack masculinity.

I aim to provide a critical analysis of white supremacy, capitalist conspiracy, structural violence, and oppression through the portrayal of Octopus in Drag. My goal is to foster Asian gay sociality and promote a sense of care within the Asian gay community.

Who Carries the Virus?

Because of the advent of drugs like Prep (the homophobia behind it was ignored) and the spread of bareback porn, Dutch gays are more inclined not to use condoms. Preciado calls it sexual terrorism.

I have been plagued by recurring STDs since June, something I never suffered in China. And when I go for STD testing, they see Asians as the Other who is the source of the STDs. This reminds me of the description of the "monsters" of capitalist monopolies being reproduced and projected onto Chinese immigrants.

Toxic Assemblages, Queer Socialities

According to Mel Y. Chen, discussions about toxicity frequently contribute to the creation and reinforcement of social hierarchies and racist beliefs. Thinking about the connection between the body and toxins is inextricably linked to thinking about the relationship between the "imagined West" and Asian/China.

Instead of viewing it as a simple encounter between two entities, it is now seen as an assemblage of elements. Power relations play a role in shaping this assemblage. The configuration, functions, and effects of the body-toxin relationship are flexible. The concept of becoming-toxic is introduced, where the body is not simply affected by a toxic substance but is itself transformed into toxicity. This embodiment challenges common categories and distinctions between "taking poison" and "being poison". Queer socialities embrace both pleasure and pain. They acknowledge their origins in histories of abjection, alienation, and appropriation. The concept of the toxic is used to queer ( I also see Asian/Chinese as "queer" here) subjectivity and sociality. Here, queer socialities are formed by toxic bodies affected by and affecting toxic assemblages.

In Queer Art, Antke Engel suggested the term "drag" to describe this combination. Drag brings together bodies and images, blurring the lines between them and creating fantasies of different embodiments. Drag is a unique blend of reality and fiction, is embodiments with its hybrid nature. These embodiments are always distinct and different, existing in a different time and place. According to Antke Engel's suggestion, engaging in drag as an art form has the potential to challenge dominant ideologies and create a space that is removed from the immediate impact of personal experiences on the formation of identity. Drag assemblages support the undoing of gender, sexuality, and race.

The beats generated by the drag show convey what Mark Fisher calls “the weird and the eerie”, demonstrating an order other than this one. What kind of alien rhythms, what kind of space, time, and object logic can the octopus's weird alien image, with its eight legs, multiple brains and alien intelligence demonstrate, and how can it demonstrate the possibility of transing and porosity? As Pepa Marcos in Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown says, just before her gazpacho recipe is threatened by two guns, "the key is to mix it well." How effectively can the octopus stir this soup bowl with its strange limbs and movements, with the history of toxicity, the pleasure of destruction, and the relationship of desires?

For Help

Cihad possesses extensive expertise in subjects like "the others," "racism," and "Decolonial Aesthesis." His innovative approach frequently incorporates animation, providing valuable insights into various techniques. Barend is also proficient in technical aspects, while David possesses a wealth of knowledge on the history and subculture of the LGBTQ+ community. I am seeking help and advice from other Chinese gays at Blued and Aloha, dating apps from mainland China.

Previous Practices & A Larger Context

Through post-colonialism, feminism, critical race theory, and the Sinophone studies, I try to find out the becoming strategies of the "local others" through the "creolization" of theories and the search for the plural, lowercase, local "the others", and think about the inversion, dialectic, and conflation of the "Sino-Western order" and the "self and the others" in the Asian context. My works deconstruct oppressive systems through fragmented storytelling with emotional drift, presenting characters destined to fail in this world. Subjective perspectives and methods like glitches and hacking are maintained to challenge and reshape societal norms and colonial perspectives.

  • Sailor discussed how gay culture in Shanghai is configured within debates of cosmopolitanism and urban politics and the platitudes, sexual stereotypes, the construction of masculinity, and its commodification processes therein.
  • The Ruined Map reflected upon displacement and dysphoria, the inter-imperiality between mainland China and Western, and the entangled relationship between imagined community, masculinity, and pharmaco-pornographic technology.
  • Purple Kiss examined the anus as a post-gendered organ, imagining a toxic future in which humans become asexually reproduced, plastic synthetic, with the shape of sea anemones, exploring the porosity, plasticity, and toxicity of the queer bodies.
  • Octopus in Drag is obviously a continuation of these pieces.

The Chinese have been inhumanely detained and mistreated on Angel Island throughout history, making Angel Island a hole that penetrates the map and disturbs the coherence of history writing. Immigrant LGBT people came to the Netherlands with bright dreams, only to be racially detained on an invisible island until they were completely deported (IND denied visas for LGBT refugees). The octopus has an orifice - both a mouth and an anus. The invisible island is also an anus-mouth monster.

From the FHAR and Guy Hocquenghem during the events of May 68, to the more recent work of Paul B. Preciado, our concept of an "anal utopia" is still far from being realized. How can we effectively harness the transformative power of the orifice? its potential of porosity?

Bibliography

  • Agenda, L. and Alwan, A.A. (2021) The Against Nature Journal. S.l.: COUNCIL.
  • COSTINAŞ, C., GUERRERO, I. and MA, L. (2015) A Journal of the Plague Year. Hong Kong: Para Site.
  • Lionnet, F. and Shih, S. (2011) The Creolization of Theory. Durham NC: Duke University Press.
  • Lorenz, R. (2012) Queer art: A freak theory. Bielefeld: Transcript.
  • Puar, J.K. and Amolo, O.N.T. (2017) Terrorist assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
  • Srinivasan, A. (2022) The right to sex: Feminism in the twenty-first century. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  • Wekker, G. (2016) White Innocence: Paradoxes of colonialism and race. Durham: Duke University Press.

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