Publication Contribution to Asian American Culture

Art is a transnational instrument of communication that easily embraces and mixes whatever cultures that encounter each other. Such a process is specifically visible in the United States, a multicultural society with a high possibility to absorb everyone who desires to fit the proposed standards of modernity. Asian artists that enter the American society are not an exception; thus, they have to face and overcome bias and, finally, assimilate. Consequently, they become a part of the American art tradition and contribute to the American culture by using elements of both Asian and American styles.

The consideration of various research works and the interviews with the representatives of the modern Asian American artists have proved that it has become an integral part of the American culture owing to the fact that the Asian Americans have found their place in the society and share their values with Americans and other people.

The art and culture of the Asian people in the United States developed gradually as the Asian society sought for its place and faced numerous obstacles.

One of it included the fact that the discussion concerning the racial minorities addressed to the rights of writers, politicians, and activists, and, at the same time, excluded artists. Deprived of the possibility to struggle for fame due to the lack of public support, alienated from mainstream galleries and publications, artists were unneeded and, thus, invisible. Unlike the African American artists who could expect to receive support from the ‘Harmon Foundation’, Asian artists did not have the proper system of endorsement.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified

Proficient in: American Culture

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

They mainly depended on the ethnic communities, sales, and commercial work. The ‘New Deal’ initiatives did not prove helpful, as one still had to face employment restrictions. Additionally, most of the mainstream art historians did not favor the Asian art, while ethnic historians lacked the competence to evaluate art from the aspect of Asian American experience and, thus, popularize it.

Furthermore, the World War II era heavily damaged the Asian American art culture, when under the order by President Franklin Roosevelt, West Coast Japanese American prewar population was forced to live in camps where one would barely have the possibility to be an artist. Overall, numerous factors contributed to the probability of Asian American art extinction. Nevertheless, numerous initiatives became the reason why the Asian American Art did not disappear but rather assimilated to the American culture while retaining its peculiar features. In camps, Issei and Nisei including Chiura Obata, Benji Okubo, and Henry Sugimoto were employed as professional artists to conduct art classes (Robinson, 113). In addition, the works of some other painters appeared in government-sponsored publications and shows that were organized by Fair Play and progressive supporters outside the camps that helped the artists to build their careers.

Furthermore, some artists had the possibility to attend art schools or to study in Europe. In 1967, the Hawaiian ‘percentage for Art’ law increased the demand in artists and assisted Asian American artists in their search of work. Therefore, owing to mutual efforts, Asian American artists gradually became a part of the working art society. In the modern times, numerous organizations represent the interests of the Asian American culture in the United States. In particular, As Michida explained, Diasporic Asian Art Network (DAAN), that is the non-formal network of art writers, researchers, curators, and graduate students aims to develop the previously extinct aspects of work crucial for the existence of art (Machida, 24). Their efforts include the organization of researches, critics, collaboration and curatorship and are crucial for the popularizing of Asian art and culture in the US society in the absence of official governmental institutions that deal with the issue.

Another initiative called the East Coast Asian American Art Project (ECAAAP) “incorporates archival, exhibition, publication, and programming elements in its efforts to document Asian American visual artists, artist groups, and cultural institutions” (Machida, 25). They mostly concentrate on New York City, but Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago remain the probable locations for further research. Furthermore, the Smithsonian Institution holds “extensive collections of Asian American art containing paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and drawings by close to ninety artists of Asian heritage” (Machida, 25). Unlike before, Asian American art tradition receives support, acceptance, and possibility for development. The Asian American society has become a part of the United States and has the right for cultural acceptance.

In order to study the modern Asian American culture, one has to distinguish it, understand its nature and place in the US society. The concept of being Asian American includes numerous nations such as Chinese-American, Japanese-American, Korean-American, Filipino-American, Taiwanese-American, Indonesian American among others (Milford, 91). Each of the groups has its specific culture, but they hold a single name as they are non-mainstream, non-European-Americans. Numerous cultures exist next to each other, and they are different from the dominant Euro-American paradigm. Fortunately, the contemporary culture of the United States promotes radical pluralism and, thus, accepts alien cultures as a part of the system. The concepts and ideas of the Asian culture and art contrast and oppose the traditional American worldview the way that every distinct and new art type would do. For instance, postmodern art movements such as Abstract Expressionist Art, Minimalist Art, Pop Art, and Op Art began as a rebellion against set norms (Milford, 91). This way, this culture is similar to many others that have assimilated into the American culture and art.

Currently, Asian American art concentrates on acquiring its distinctive identity. Numerous Asian American artists represent their artworks as a part of everyday art activities within the common system. They perform various tasks including the creation of monuments, pictures and art performances. However, their works retain the feeling of distinction from the traditional manner of performance. For example, as Milford introduced, the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. designed by a Chinese-American architect Maya Lin is characterized by the traditional features of a memorial but expresses the unexpectedly new message through the use of novel approach (Milford, 92). Unlike the traditional memorials that convey the military achievement of soldiers that inspire to look at the greatness and height and feel pride, this one is an expression of mourning and sorrow. It is relatively low, so one has to come close and lean towards it. This way, the given memorial honors the victims of war who sacrificed their lives. The other creation by Maya Lin, the Civil Rights Monuments in Alabama, shares a similar message.

One would rather lean towards the monument and feel shame for the reasons for one’s sacrificial death than praise one’s accomplishments (Milford, 94). In this case, the traditional concept of memorial design is supplemented with the brand new approach and feeling. A new set of values within the culture enriches it by creating the traditional items in such a new way. The process of intervention of the alien culture into the local one is mutually beneficial. Exchange of ideas about the art methods goes far beyond simple imitation. Even though the research concerning the influence of the Chinese culture on the American art remains insufficient, one may trace the cases where American artists took after their Chinese comrades. Communication between Teng Baiye and Mark Tobey serves as one of the examples of positive Asian influence on American culture. According to the research, Mark Tobey’s strong exposure to a range of West and East Asian cultures remains visible, but the influence of Chinese art is the strongest source of his inspiration. The study of his biography has uncovered the fact of his communication with Teng Baiye skilled in English and having an MFA degree.

Teng was one among a few Chinese artists who received acceptance of the Western society, his works could be seen in expositions in numerous galleries, and he was skilled in both Chinese and Western art. It is believed that he might have become the one who developed the interest to Asian culture in Tobey. As Mill said, in 1923, Tobey met Teng and became interested in the Chinese painting. In 1934, after trips to Naples, Italy, and Hong Kong, Tobey went to Teng in Shanghai and probably proceeded with the study of the Chinese art. As a result of their interaction, in 1935, Tobey developed his famous “white writing, the innovative network of white lines against a dark background that covers the surface of his work”. Tobey was inspired by the expressiveness of lines in the Chinese art and put them into the center of his style. The idea about the interconnection between authors belongs to the French newspaper Le Monde which published the comment that Mark Tobey strongly owed Teng Baiye for the possibility to embrace the Eastern culture and apply it in his works.

The argument is supported by the idea that Asian tradition favors indirect borrowing. One has the right to take one’s concept and reproduce it in a unique way. Under such presumption, the possibility that Teng Baiye became a teacher and an inspiring person of Mark Tobey remains probable even though the issue concerning the influence of the Asian art on the American culture has not been studied in detail. Interviews with three Asian American women artists performed by Kimberly May Jew allow considering the experience of being Asian American as well as demonstrate the influence of racial identity on the art. Thus, Canyon Sam answers the question concerning the unique approach to performance art by referring to the experience of living in Asia. The possibility to unite various topics such as Tibet, human rights, genocide, Buddhism, and nonviolence and address them in the voices of non-Americans becomes one of her strong points. For her, being an Asian American artist is the ideological matter, and when she started her work in the field of performing art, it became a means to share the stories and experiences of the Tibetan women in a manner that would attract social attention.

Meantime, Brenda Wong Aoki addresses the difficulties of being an Asian American female performance artist. Being a half-blood means one would not be accepted not only as an American but as an Asian too. Still, being the professional, she turns the experience of having Asian roots to her own benefit and puts them into the core of performance as well. She retells the traditional legends from an “American woman’s point of view”. Thus, in The Bell of Dojoji she mixes the old Asian stories and some aspects of the contemporary American life, and in the story about a poor monk seduced by a woman, Aoki shifts the focus and does the piece from the perspective of the abused woman (Jew, 146). In this case, the worldview of the contemporary female allows decentering the story while retaining the main message.

Lastly, Denise Uyehara stresses that ‘identity labels’ allow creating the discussion concerning the uncomfortable topics such as oppression. Uyehara admits the fact that her performances are influenced by her Asian American experience. Additionally, she states that she is a queer feminist, and that her queerness and feminism whether intentionally or not also strongly affect her work (Jew, 147). Overall, the personality of all the interviewees remains indivisible from their art performance, and in certain cases, art has become a way for them to express themselves regarding socially appealing matters.

To sum up, Asian American art is indivisible from the Asian American society. It became a part of the American culture only when Asian Americans fund their place there. As it was discussed in the first section of the paper, Asian American art could not develop for a long time, and lack of social acceptance of Asian Americans made their art unneeded. Moreover, being socially unprotected, they could not spread their ideas to the multicultural society. However, in the modern world, with sufficient support and acceptance, Asian American art is turning into relatively popular. Artists address the existing concepts in a new way, but retain the main idea and respect the internal value; so, they accept the American culture as the part of their work. Meantime, through communication, Asian American artists share the beauty of Asian art and inspire Americans as well. Art becomes the way to represent the personal beliefs and is indivisible from personal experience as one may see having considered the interviews. Consequently, the art style becomes transnational only when the nation initiates the communication with the foreign cultures.