Wednesday, March 11 @ 5:00 – 6:15pm
Play Circle Theater, Memorial Union
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests. Doors at 4:30 PM for general admission seating; no late seating.
Astria Suparak’s cross-disciplinary projects address complex and urgent issues (like institutionalized racism, feminism, and colonialism) made accessible through a popular culture lens, such as science fiction movies, rock music, memes, and sports. Straddling creative and scholarly work, Suparak’s projects often take the form of publicly available tools and databases, chronicling subcultures and omitted perspectives. Her multimedia performance Asian futures, without Asians, an incisive taxonomy of film tropes which reference the histories of architecture, fashion, religion, and weaponry, was described as “cathartic, brilliant,” (Variable West) and “a compelling yet brutally honest exploration,” (The Michigan Daily). Her Tropicsss series proposes possible, expanded affinities and solidarities across geography and national borders. In the last five years, Suparak’s installations, performances, and videos have been presented at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the ArtScience Museum, Singapore.
She has curated exhibitions, screenings, and performances that are “visually and conceptually stunning,” (Hyperallergic) with “savvy political consciousness,” for the Liverpool Biennial, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, MoMA PS1 and The Kitchen in New York, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and Expo Chicago, as well as for unconventional spaces such as roller-skating rinks, sports bars, and rock clubs.
Suparak is the winner of the 2022 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Award, and is based in Oakland, California. astriasuparak.com
Astria Suparak: Asian futures, without Asians
What does it mean when so many white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people? This is the animating question of Asian futures, without Asians, a multimedia performative lecture by artist Astria Suparak, with musical accompaniment by Tammy Lakkis.
Surveying 60 years of mainstream science-fiction cinema, this incisive and poetic work oscillates between humor and gravity. Suparak begins by breaking down the unstable category of “Asian” through a series of maps, regulations, and geopolitical trends—inclusive of East, Southeast, South, West, and Central Asia, as well as North Africa and the Pacific Islands. She draws connections between discriminatory rhetoric and historical legislation with present day anti-Asian and anti-Arab racism, detailing how they intersect with gender, class, and sexuality. In doing so, she reveals deeply embedded prejudices that have become normalized in contemporary visual culture.
This live cinema work, presented as a taxonomy of tropes, is illustrated with over 300 images and clips from futuristic movies and television shows. Accompanied by a live musical soundtrack by Tammy Lakkis, Suparak delivers anecdotes, trivia, and documents from the histories of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, food, religion, and weaponry. The implications of appropriating, decontextualizing, and misrepresenting Asian cultures while excluding Asian contributors are laid bare.
Reserve your spot for the March 11th Colloquium now!
Performance Presentation
Thursday, March 12 @ 7:00pm
Panel Discussion at 8:30pm
Play Circle Theater, Memorial Union
Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests. Doors at 6:30 PM for general admission seating; no late seating.
Panelists: Professors Preeti Chopra (Visual Studies, South Asian Art & Architecture), Derek Johnson (Media & Cultural Studies, Film), & Nam Kim (Anthropology)
Moderator: Helen Lee (Glass Lab, Art Department)
Reserve your spot for the March 12th presentation!
Glass + Neon Fabrication Demonstration
Thursday, March 13 @ 2:00 – 5:00pm
Glass Lab, Room 1165, Art Lofts
A free, public glass and neon fabrication demonstration will explore how glass and neon contribute to the visual language of futurity. No tickets required for this free and public event. Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests.
Join us for live glass and neon demonstrations in the UW Glass Lab, where we will explore how the materials of glass and neon contribute to the visual language of futurity. Daniella Thach (MFA candidate, 2027) will work with Astria Suparak in the Neon Lab to fabricate an animated neon snake. UW Glass Lab staff and students will work with Tammy Lakkis in the Glass Lab to explore the intersection of glass instruments and experimental electronic music.
Sponsored by: Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, Anonymous Fund, Division of the Arts, University Lectures, Art Department, UW Art Visiting Artist Colloquium, Center for Visual Culture and Performance Studies, Theater and Drama, UW Glass Lab, Asian American Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Communication Arts, Center for Design and Material Culture, Interdisciplinary Theater Studies, and Art History.