EPISODES
SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR
SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR SEMINAR
WEEK 16 / WITH  VIVIAN L. HUANG

Silence and Asian Femininity




SEMINAR LEADER

Vivian L. Huang is Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Williams College. Her first book Surface Relations: Queer Forms of Asian American Performance (Duke University Press, forthcoming) theorizes minoritarian aesthetics of inscrutability in contemporary Asian American literary, visual, and performance cultures. Other work can be found in The Journal of Popular Culture, Journal of Asian American Studies, Women & Performance, and GLQ. Previously, Vivian has taught theater and performance studies, gender and sexuality studies, and Asian American studies at New York University, Harvard University, and the City University of New York, Hunter College.

[ IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Purple line drawing of spiraling nebula ︎ heart symbol ]


[ IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A video screenshot appears in the video player above. An image description of the screenshot can be found on page two of the transcription file here. ︎ heart symbol ].
READINGS & SCREENING



[ IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rectangular book cover. The top third of the book cover is solid black, with text that reads: “Women & Performance:” in large white font. Below that, in smaller gray font the subtitle reads: “a journal of feminist theory.” In the upper left corner is a small gray box that includes the volume, issue, and date. In the lower two thirds of the cover is an image centered on a solid grey background. The image appears to be a black and white close up of a topographical map made up of lines and dots. The Routledge logo sits beneath the image in the bottom left corner. ︎︎ heart symbol ]


[ IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A screenshot of a poem on a website. In the upper left corner of the web page is the website’s logo: a crimson wax seal with the letter, W. Below the logo is the website’s navigation menu. The website has a light beige background, and the poem sits atop the background in a white rectangle the length of the page. At the top of the rectangle, the poem’s title reads, “What a Cyborg Wants.” And below that a crimson line divides the title from the author’s name in small italic letters: “Franny Choi.” The poem itself is read aloud during the episode above and can be found here.︎ heart symbol ]



[ IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rectangular screenshot of a video on Vimeo. In the top left corner, the video’s title reads: “Yoko Ono - Cut Piece.” Under the title is the name of the Vimeo user who uploaded the video, “paulanow.” The image captured in the screenshot is a black and white image of Yoko Ono seated on a stage and facing the camera. Ono’s legs, in stockings, are facing the left side of the frame and one of her hands rests on her top leg. Her other hand is set on the stage. Her top has been partially cut away revealing an undergarment. The screen capture cuts off the top of Yoko Ono’s face and the title of the video covers her mouth. At the bottom of the rectangle is a play button, a timebar, and four Vimeo icons: a gear icon for settings, a screen icon for view, a four-arrow icon for full-screen mode, and the finally, the Vimeo logo. ︎ heart symbol ]

[ VIDEO DESCRIPTION: In this video, credited to the Maysles Brothers, artist Yoko Ono sits alone on an empty stage, dressed in a skirt suit and tights, with a pair of scissors in front of her. Before the video begins, the audience had been instructed to take turns approaching her and cutting off pieces of her clothing with the scissors provided. They were instructed that the clothing they cut was theirs to keep. The video begins as participants approach her, some with more hesitation than others. Some cut small squares of fabric from her sleeve or the hem of her skirt. Others make bolder gestures, cutting the front of her blouse or the straps of her bra. Throughout the performance, Ono remains still and stares straight ahead. The camera moves to follow the activities on stage, showing angles from the front, sides, and slightly above Ono. It includes camera pans and closeups of the clothing being cut off, as well as of Ono’s face. Further description of Ono’s Cut Piece can be found in the episode above and here. ︎ heart symbol ]
ASSIGNMENT

Readings


Screening


SHOW NOTES

  • The work of Franny Choi (mentioned by Vivian around 3:00) can be found here.
  • The poem “What a Cyborg Wants” by Franny Choi (mentioned by Vivian around 3:21) can be found here.
  • The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again (mentioned by Davecat around 21:18) can be found here and here.
  • Each of Franny Choi’s books (mentioned by Vivian around 35:51) can be found here.
  • Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece (mentioned by Vivian around 36:11) is documented in the embedded video above and here.
  • The article “Inscrutably, Actually: Hospitality, Parasitism, and the Silent Work of Yoko Ono and Laurel Nakadate” (mentioned by Vivian around 36:39) can be found above and here.
  • The work of Laurel Nakadate (mentioned by Vivian around 36:39) can be found here, here and here.
  • The Doll made in Amber’s likeness (mentioned by Amber around 42:53) can be found here. (The videos and images at this link are not image described at the time of writing this show note. They will be described in August, 2021.)
  • The work of Anne Anlin Cheng (mentioned by Amber around 44:57) was assigned and discussed during Week Five of The Harmony Show with seminar leader Son Kit.
  • The work of The Beatles (mentioned by Davecat around 45:43) can be found here.
  • The Wikipedia entry for John Lennon (mentioned by Davecat around 46:13) can be found here.
  • More information on the Fluxus movement (mentioned by Davecat around 46:20) can be found here.
  • The work of Marina Abromovic (mentioned by Davecat around 48:24) can be found here.
  • More information on Abromovic’s Rhythm 0 (mentioned by Davecat around 48:55) can be found here by clicking on the video titled Rhythm 0 halfway down the page. However, the video at this link is not captioned. A description of Rhythm 0 can be found here.
  • The Laurel Nakadate quote from 2011 (referenced by Amber and Vivian around 53:00) “After hundreds of years of art history, a young half-Asian girl meets older white men, and she’s the predator? Suddenly no one can take it?” can be found in the full article here as well as in Vivian’s article here.
  • The work of the Maysles brothers (mentioned by Amber around 53:42 in the context of the documentation of Cut Piece) can be found here.
  • The Wikipedia entry for William Gibson (mentioned by Davecat around 1:03:42) can be found here.
  • The Wikipedia entry for the film Blade Runner (mentioned by Davecat around 1:06:40) can be found here.
  • Anne Anlin Cheng (mentioned by Vivian around 1:07:50) maintains a Twitter account here. The account regularly links to both her academic writing and general-audience writing. Cheng’s book Ornamentalism can be found here.
  • Sidore (Mark II) / Heather > LOLITA (mentioned by Vivian around 1:11:01) can be found here. The videos and images at this link is not image described at the time of writing this show note. They will be described in August, 2021.
  • The novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (mentioned by Amber around 1:27:33) can be found here. A free digital copy can be found here, however it is not screen reader accessible. A synopsis can be found on the Wikipedia entry for Lolita here.
  • The concept of the pornotrope (mentioned by Amber around 1:16:36) is described by Hortense Spillers in “Mama’s Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book” here. (The PDF at this link is not screen reader accessible. A discussion of the essay at Smart Brown Girl Book Club can be found in four parts: one, two, three and four.) Amber Jamilla Musser describes pornotroping in the introduction to her book Sensational Flesh: Race, Power, and Masochism, an excerpt of which can be found here. Musser led a seminar session of The Harmony Show during Week Two, which can be found here.
  • The work of Margaret Rhee (mentioned by Vivian around 1:21:27) can be found here.
  • A list of scholarly articles written by Mel Chen (mentioned by Vivian around 1:21:54) can be found here.
  • Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) by Emma Sulkowicz (mentioned by Vivian around 1:24:17) is described in the Wikipedia entry here. Though this is not reflected in all parts of the entry, Sulkowicz uses they / them pronouns.

Silence and Asian Femininity was recorded on May 15, 2021.