Friday, December 14, 2018

Rosabi Pena Garcia
Activism and History Writing Assignment
12/14/18



Gaku Tsutaja uses reeds, branches, wire net, Spanish moss, wood, paper, clay, Indian ink, canvas cloth, net, and string to explores issues of national identity and the trauma of disaster. Her sculpture is called "The Project to Dismantle the Enola Gay." In her sculpture, the Hiroshima bomber, Enola Gay, is exorcised by flocks of parakeets. Tsutaja is of Japans decent and dedicated this piece to her country's trauma and suffering. She addresses this socio-political issue using parakeets because these birds are an invasive species in America and a metaphor for immigration in this piece. A plane is placed in the center (representing Enola Gay) as a net is hovering over him. The plane is surrounded and confined by gates. Around the gates are pictures of Hiroshima that serve as a reminder to Enola Gay. On the branches are hundreds of parakeets looking down at the plane. There are so many birds it almost looks like an invasion. This piece connects to my project in the sense of revenge. Tsutaja puts the bomber in the center of the piece. He is the one to blame and he is at fault for the tragedy. In my project I look institutional racism in higher education. Although there is not a particular person to blame, there is a group at fault, the ignorant population of white America. The cause for disparity in the education system traces back in history. From gentrification, blacks and hispanics were forced to live in these low-income areas because that was all that money could buy. The wages were low and many competing for jobs, did not get the job. In the sculpture, the parakeets would represent all minority students rising above watching the destruction of white America.


Roger Shimomura addresses sociopolitical issues related to ethnicity in his piece, "American Guardian." He spent two years of his early childhood inside a concentration camp located in Idaho. This was during World War II when the US held concentration camps for Japanese immigrants, including Japanese-Americans. The medium he used for his piece was lithography. He depicts his childhood inside these camps from the point of view of a guard. The guard's gun is pointed at a child riding his tricycle. The camps are surrounded in barbed wire with heavy clouds of smoke above the homes and guard towers making it hard to see. The sky looks dim and everyone else is inside their homes. It's a sad depiction of Shimomura's childhood, he wasn't able to enjoy the simple things. The US criminalized Japanese immigrants during World War II forcing them to lose several personal items and their homes. Even children were imprisoned in these camps, which wouldn't be tolerated today...until Donald Trump. This relates to my project in the aspect of isolation. The Japanese immigrants were isolated from the rest of the population and stripped from their person items and belongings. This refers back into history when slavery was the economic fuel. Although there weren't concentration camps for blacks, America successfully isolated the black population through the economy, justice system, education system, work, and politics. Institutionalized racism became a way for whites to oppress minorities without physically owning them. This art piece reminds me of the institutionalized racism that occurs in the US that many of white America don't notice or are to ignorant to notice. The clouds of smoke would represent their perspective being blocked and the guards represent white America pointing guns at the innocent child (minorities).

Nina Katchadourian uses humor and playful themes in her portraits. This self-portrait is called "Self-Portrait as Sir Ernest Shackleton." Katchadourian dresses as explorer Ernest Shackleton with a full mustache. This looks like your ordinary mustache until you look closely for a better perspective. In fact these are real caterpillars! Getting them to stay still was a challenge, she uses honey to keep the caterpillars in one place. In seeing power, "Inside a space of becoming, there are transversal methods that allow for the capacity for a person to change." Katchadourian is doing something different, most artists would use this eccentric twist on a self-portrait. She has found her space of becoming, she is using different approaches, allowing for her work to change.

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