Day: December 9, 2019

E-Saggila’s work is labeled as somewhere between techno, gabber, breakcore; it’s confrontational, intense, and unforgiving.

I was listening to a lot of E-Saggila around the time we were reading this novel, and this track, “Your Hole”, sounds a lot like how I felt reading “The Pagoda”. “The Pagoda” was an anxiety trip of tension and uncertainty, panic and unease. Perhaps E-Saggila is a bit too industrial and synthetic for the times (1890s, right?), but I hope the noise, screams, and slowly building ominous synths do something to depict the gradually burning violence, terror, confusion and anxiety that Lowe experiences throughout the story.

I don’t really have the language for this kind of music yet. In the context of “The Pagoda”, it’s just… haunting, haunted.

Returning to discussions on Afrofuturism, I recently discovered artist Martine Syms’ “Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto”.

https://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/dec/17/mundane-afrofuturist-manifesto/

I originally cited this text in my midterm, but upon looking back at the exam I’ve come to realize I actually completely omitted my answer on Afro-Futurism, in the final copy I submitted. I had a lot more (perhaps unnecessary stuff) to say, but oh well. I think I’ll include one paragraph below.

Syms’ writing – and elements of her larger practice – focuses on the mundanity, the everyday routines and violences of, being Black. Syms’ manifesto is a (sort of) satirical text which criticizes what she believes are the tropes and whimsical fantasies of Afro-futurism. Instead, her text calls for Mundane Afro-futurists to imagine an Afro-futurism that is firmly rooted on Earth. My paragraph probably describes this better:

“In opposition to this aesthetic norm of science fiction and fantasy however, artist Martine Syms’ Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto satirically searches for a different mode of cultural production that eschews Afro-futurist “unexamined and hackneyed tropes” (Syms). Whether materialized in magic interstellar travel, “Jive-talking aliens”, or “Reference to Sun Ra”, the escapist, illusory narratives of sci-fi Afro-futurism which the Mundane Afrofuturists critique are framed as often alienating Black people, or giving false hope or revisionist histories to systems inseparable from racism, capitalism, patriarchy. Instead, Syms argues that even more radical and powerful is to imagine futures in which Earth is all that Black people have available, that their futures are relegated to this planet (Syms). The mundane (but strange and oft-violent) rituals and everyday systems that Black people navigate on Earth in the 21^st century present a new challenge of imagination and futurity. If Syms, like many of her Afro-futurist contemporaries, strives to question and imagine “beyond” this established aesthetic canon of sci-fi-as-futuristic, yet is still rooted in deeply, powerfully imagining the futures of Black people, is this not also Afro-futurism?”

Here’s Syms talking about the work. I haven’t actually watched this myself but take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otUJvQhCjJ0

As finals approach, I thought it would be helpful to include this article by Shayla Love about the mental health consequences of the model minority: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pa7agm/asian-american-keeping-face-model-minority-mental-health-consequences

The article introduces how the model minority myth and the cultural idea of “face” create intense pressure for young Asian Americans. The concept of face (“mianzi” in Chinese), which describes ways in which a person is viewed in the eyes of others, has a crucial role in Asian culture because saving “face” implies keeping family honors. When combined with the model minority myth, which describes that all Asians are hardworking, good-at-math and family-oriented, “face” causes mental health problems because young Asian Americans have to pursue the standard of success. 

The continuation of the “face” concept in the U.S. places the integrity of the family unit before autonomy and marginalizes the discrimination against Asian Americans. In And China Has Hands, Wong Wan-Lee was afraid of asking his cousins for money because he does not want to appear as a loser. He also keeps mentioning the importance of returning home with a fortune. Thus, the importance of “face” results in extra mental pressure for Asian immigrants, who survive American capitalism and struggle to achieve an American dream that is simultaneously satisfactory for Asian families.

Furthermore, the racial triangulation of Asian Americans also fuels the racism between minorities in America. The model expects young Asian Americans to be perfect in academia. It trivializes how systematic racism influences the African American community and dismisses the lack of opportunity as their fault. In conclusion, reconstructing racial dynamic in America not only involves critique against White supremacy but also a reflection on the cultural tradition.  

Sherrie Chen (sc2289)

 

Posited as a living, thriving documentary of Afro-Asian cultural and political solidarity, BUFU is a collective of queer femmes working through the arts and activism to do… a range of cool stuff. Here are some (sort of dated?) interviews on the collective.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/qv8qzb/bufu-the-new-york-art-collective-promoting-poc-solidarity

https://theoutline.com/post/1940/art-collectives-activists-bufu?zd=1&zi=ch7ykagm

https://nylon.com/articles/nylon-bufu-collective-april-2017

https://www.vibe.com/2016/10/bufu-art-collective-for-poc

It’s hard to encompass all of what they do, but if you’re ever around NYC during the summer, take a look at their WYFY free education programming. WYFY aims to decentralize the academy (in all its meanings) and create a range of accessible classes, workshops, and spaces for learning and being.

I’ve never been myself, but a few close friends have and apparently it’s been amazing!