Unsettled Visions

Margo Machida is Associate Professor of Art History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is a co-editor of Fresh Talk/Daring Gazes: Conversations on Asian American Art, winner of the Association of Asian American Studies’ 2005 Cultural Studies Book Award. Machida curated the groundbreaking 1994 Asia Society group exhibition ASIA/AMERICA: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art. She is a co-founder of the Asian Contemporary Art Consortium and Godzilla: Asian American Art Network (1990–2001).

• List of Illustrations ixPreface xiiiAcknowledgments xixIntroduction: Art, Asian America, and the Social Imaginary: A Poetics of Positionality 11. A Play of Positionalities: Reconsidering Identification 172. Othering: Primitivism, Orientalism, and Stereotyping 573. Trauma, Social Memory, and Art 1204. Migration, Mixing, and Place 194Epilogue: Toward an Ongoing Dialogue 271Notes 283Bibliography 321Index 353

“Machida explains that this book is intended to contribute to a dialogue amongst artists and scholars regarding the issues of art and the Asian American Diaspora. As an academic (Associate Professor of Art History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut) and an author, she contextualizes herself as an actor in this dialogue, an approach that is quite compelling. This book would be particularly appropriate for upper level discussion seminars on issues relating to historical and critical theory, as well as Asian American art. Machida’s exploration of the issues also provides a starting point for future Asian American exhibitions and food for thought for curatorship in this area.” - Heather Kline, ARLIS/NA Reviews “Unsettled Visions documents the compelling work of contemporary Asian American artists challenging and critiquing issues of racial identity and representation. . . . [A] valuable contribution to the growing area of scholarship in Asian American visual art. . . .” - Rose M. Kim, Visual Studies “This solid and remarkable volume should be essential reading for those interested in critical race theory and visual cultures, and is sure to encouragefurther study of these artists.” - Alexandra Chang, Woman’s Art Journal “Margo Machida’s Unsettled Visions suggests a refreshingly useful way to study ethnicity. . . . This book will appeal to a wide variety of scholars interested in visual, cultural, and spatial practices, Asian American and ethnic studies, visual culture, cultural studies, material culture, performance studies, and architecture.” - Arijit Sen, Journal of American Ethnic History “Unsettled Visions is an engaging and extremely significant book beyond the fact that it is the first study to examine Asian American visual productions in a systematic way. It sets a high standard and will be the model for works that follow.”-Gary Y. Okihiro, author of The Columbia Guide to Asian American History “For years, Margo Machida was practically the only person to bring Asian American artists into what were then the ‘multicultural’ debates, and the only writer/participant to cover their activities and art with a high degree of social vision and intellectual passion. With Unsettled Visions, she has produced a work of amazing breadth, positioning each artist’s work in an internationally historical, political, and theoretical context that considerably deepens my own understanding of art I have been familiar with for years.”-Lucy R. Lippard, author of Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America“This is a foundational text for appreciating and interpreting contemporary Asian American art. It is an intelligent and intelligible work built on many years of dedicated research and original thinking. Margo Machida has obviously been inspired by deep encounters with the art emanating from this marvelously complex demographic. Unsettled Visions has set the standard for the field.”-Franklin Odo, Director, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program “Unsettled Visions documents the compelling work of contemporary Asian American artists challenging and critiquing issues of racial identity and representation. . . . [A] valuable contribution to the growing area of scholarship in Asian American visual art. . . .” - Rose M. Kim (Visual Studies) “Machida explains that this book is intended to contribute to a dialogue amongst artists and scholars regarding the issues of art and the Asian American Diaspora. As an academic (Associate Professor of Art History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut) and an author, she contextualizes herself as an actor in this dialogue, an approach that is quite compelling. This book would be particularly appropriate for upper level discussion seminars on issues relating to historical and critical theory, as well as Asian American art. Machida’s exploration of the issues also provides a starting point for future Asian American exhibitions and food for thought for curatorship in this area.” - Heather Kline (ARLIS/NA Reviews) “Margo Machida’s Unsettled Visions suggests a refreshingly useful way to study ethnicity. . . . This book will appeal to a wide variety of scholars interested in visual, cultural, and spatial practices, Asian American and ethnic studies, visual culture, cultural studies, material culture, performance studies, and architecture.” - Arijit Sen (Journal of American Ethnic History) “This solid and remarkable volume should be essential reading for those interested in critical race theory and visual cultures, and is sure to encourage further study of these artists.” - Alexandra Chang (Woman's Art Journal)