Song Reflections on Anne Cheng’s ‘Ornamentalism’

This song is called “Porcelain” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s a slow groove; I thought that It would go well with Cheng’s deliberate positioning of ‘yellow womanhood’ with her theory of ornamentalism. The first two lines are:

Porcelain, are you wasting away in your skin?
Are you missing the love of your kin?

Which I think would go well Cheng’s adherence, or not shying away from, the hard considerations of personhood being understood primarily through material or and object like porcelain.

This is Miguel’s cover of the song; he does it justice, I think.

https://youtu.be/l48DPVyuGoA

One thought on “Song Reflections on Anne Cheng’s ‘Ornamentalism’

  1. Great to place the song with the cover, Catherine! Thanks for bringing our attention to porcelain re Cheng and materiality. How is porcelain both sexualized and racialized?

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