The final project for this class will be to create the video element of what will eventually become the installation portion of my Masters thesis performance. "of chicks, dicks, and chinks" my performance will be a series of monologues embedded in a day-long "happening" consisting of both interactive and static artifacts, found objects and video loops all exploring masculinity as it is performed, lived, and consumed by queer Asian American audiences. For the final review, my goal is to project the video loop and couple it with a strong outline of what the rest of the installation will look like.

The projected images will be a collage of footage including: me in character as well as me performing simple yet monotonous tasks (such as moving a pile of rice grain by grain); pornography featuring Asian men; objects associated with each character (letters, a baseball bat, a '98 Acura, a portrait of Franz Fanon); and images of products based on colonial encounters such as monkey soap, skin bleaching solution, and cereals. The social and political theories I will be dealing with often inhabit a discourse laden with trite and dogmatic conclusions. To prevent this I hope a process of abstracting images will hail the audience to create varied narratives and free associations. In many ways, I see this video loop as an extension of my Curious George project, using layering, transparency and collage to create new and compelling images from juxtaposing familiar images with sometimes dissonant ideas and materials.

Some of the primary questions I will address will be: How can I create images and space that is both politically and aesthetically compelling? How can I infuse my process with cultural theory while being mindful of issues of accessibility? What does "masculinity" look like, for me? How can I change, shape and inhabit it?

One performer who I have kept in mind has been the performance artist Sonia "Gigi" Hormillosa-Oltavaro, a Filipino/Columbian dancer who investigates how race is internalized through the phallus. Her performance "Inverted Minstrel" had a significant video component. Yoko Ono has also influenced me in her conceptual processes. Her continuous political commitment to anti-violence has always infused her aesthetic choices with a certain austerity. Louise Bourgeois's cell pieces, while not usually performance or video-related, gives me much inspiration for looking at the affect and emotional trauma sparked by confined space and objects. Other artists and performers that I plan to investigate include: Carolee Schneeman,   Eric Bogosian, Patty Chang, Lorna Simpson, Jenny Holtzer, Peggy Shaw, and Denise Uyehara. In addition, theorists that influence my research include: Ann Cvetkovich, David Eng, Fanon, Judith Halberstam, Jill Dolan, Laura Mulvey, and Martin Manalansan IV.