Asian Futures, without Asians

RSVP HERE

Asian futures, without Asians

Illustrated presentation by Astria Suparak

Presented by GYOPO and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

This event is free and open to the public and features live captioning and ASL interpretation.

Asian futures, without Asians is the Los Angeles premiere of a presentation by artist and curator Astria Suparak, which asks: “What does it mean when so many white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people?”

Part critical analysis, part reflective essay and sprinkled throughout with humor, justified anger, and acerbic observations, this one-hour illustrated lecture examines over fifty years of American science fiction cinema through the lens of Asian appropriation and whitewashing. Using a wide interpretation of “Asian” to reflect current and historical geopolitical trends and self-definitions (inclusive of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, and the Pacific Islands — the latter two of which are not technically Asia), this biting critique examines how Asian cultures have been mixed and matched, contrasted against, and conflated with each other, often creating a fungible “Asianness” in futuristic sci-fi.

The presentation brims with images and clips from dozens of futuristic movies and TV shows, as Suparak delivers anecdotes, trivia, and historical documents from the histories of film, art, architecture, design, fashion, food, and martial arts. Suparak discusses the implications of not only borrowing heavily from Asian cultures, but decontextualizing and misrepresenting them, while excluding Asian contributors.

A conversation between Astria Suparak and writer and media creative Jason Concepcion will follow the presentation.

Still from ‘Ghost In The Shell’ depicting Geisha android (dir. Rupert Sanders, 2017) in ‘Asian futures, without Asians’ by Astria Suparak.