Chop Suey - Thesis outline

  *Chop Suey*

A thesis outline

intro

Chop Suey is an inauthentic Chinese dish. The exact origin is unknown but is believed to be an American Chinese invention, although it is also a commonly know dish in many other mixed Chinese cuisine. Also known as Tjap Tjoy in Surinamese-Chinese cuisine. Which is my heritage.

I identify with Chop Suey or Tjap Tjoy. I am also regarded as an inauthentic Chinese.

In this study I will be exploring my background, my history, my life experiences, whatever it’s called as a Chinese person growing up in and with different cultures. The result of this thesis will be a series of photographs and possibly a short film of my thoughts and feeling dealing with racial stereotypes from outsiders as well as within myself and my family.

Chapter 1: Background/memoir

My history and family background is very important to this subject. In this chapter I will be describing my immediate family and what cultures they have identified with. Internal racism and general lack of self acceptance that plagues our family. I will be talking about my own experience growing up in a white culture; how it affected me and the experience from an emotional standpoint.

Chapter 2: Inspiration to review

Within this chapter I want to review works by other artists wo look at this topic in an interesting way. Are there themes and subjects they bring up that resonate with me, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to explore yet? Can I draw inspiration from these artists within my own work?

Chapter 3: Report practice

I want to start with making lots of (low effort) prototypes to bring some tangibility to my ideas. With these prototypes I will mostly be using myself or some of my more reachable family members in order to get an idea of what I want to make eventually and if I even like the idea I’m creating.

For possible filming ideas I will first be taking photographs and writing down my thoughts, feelings and experiences with the subject of my photography. So that I can later decide if it’s worth filming and possibly making a voice over.

Within this project I hope to have a couple of mini projects touching on different subjects that, to me, feel relevant to this topic but can not necessarily be dealt with together or in the same way.

These projects will be:

The Gift Shop and my relation to it My family and their experiences Dealing with radicalised stereotypes

Later I will be reviewing these prototypes and write a real plan on what I want to photography/film, how I want to do it and how I want it to be presented aesthetically.

Conclusion

In the conclusion I hope to have drafted a story in which I can understand my own fears and doubts and feelings of unbelonging in a way that feels close to my heart and true to my own experiences.