“Astria Suparak’s ‘Virtually Asian’ […] well worth checking out.”
Author: a
New York Times on Virtually Asian
“Countering invisibility is at the heart of a short film by Astria Suparak titled ‘Virtually Asian.’ It splices together scenes from science fiction movies in which urban landscapes are filled with stereotypical ‘Asian’ signifiers, but the actual characters are almost exclusively white.”
***NEWS***
Upcoming and recent events, projects, exhibitions.
Boing Boing on Virtually Asian
“Particularly prevalent are the Asian hologram advertisements that apparently occupy every cityscape in the future, from Blade Runner (1982) to A.I. (2001) to Minority Report (2002), and do we even need to start in on Ghost in the Shell (2017)?”
KQED review of Virtually Asian
“Suparak’s piece is immediate and her voice, narrating the words, is melodic and compelling. The over-dubbing of her acerbic observations on blockbuster films is a compelling prelude to other iterations of her work that will appear in fragments across digital platforms.”
VIRTUALLY ASIAN
Short video essay that looks at how white science fiction filmmakers fill the backgrounds of their futuristic worlds with hollow Asian figures—in the form of video and holographic advertisements—while the main cast (if not the entirety of their fictional universe’s population) is devoid of actual Asian people.
BECOME THE MONUMENTS THAT CANNOT FALL
A newly commissioned public art project and the first survey exhibition of art collective Related Tactics.
MATCHING MINORITIES// DOUBTFUL DOUBLES
“This is a pretty interesting experiment in real-time […] It’s heartening to see such a keen and engaged audience. Lee, Suparak, and Delos Reyes have set up a really successful platform for exchange.” – Hyperallergic
ASIAN FUTURES, WITHOUT ASIANS
Series of projects, presentations, and texts on how white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people. A visual analysis of 40+ years of American science fiction cinema.
THE MUSEUM IS NOT ENOUGH
Co-published by Centre Canadien d’Architecture and Sternberg Press, this book is a result of collective reflections on architecture, contemporary social concerns, institutions, and the public.
WILD PARROT PLAYGROUND
A giant playground for the feral parrots that live in cities.
ETERNAL RETURNS
This exhibition is about living with history in the here and now and the distillations we carry into the future. These artists are meticulous researchers, utilizing chemistry, botany, math, religion, politics, and bureaucracy. They explore possibilities, capture turmoil and fallow periods, track displacement and migrations.
Art21 conversation with Stephanie Syjuco
In a special extended interview, Syjuco and Suparak discuss the roles of speech and protest in contemporary art.
CityTV feature on INCITE: Sports
Government cable TV show interview with Astria Suparak and Brett Kashmere, focused on INCITE Journal: Sports and related exhibitions and events.
A Subjective, Contextual History of Washington, D.C. Pro Basketball
A history of the team and how it intertwines with civic issues, particularly: gun laws and violence, business and labor, real estate and gentrification, race, and class.
EXPANDING THE FIELD: Sports & Politics Discussion Series
Three-part series with journalists, academics, and cultural producers covering topics like athletic protest, concussions and health issues, and labor and exploitation.
A BEAUTIFUL GAME
The film and videomakers amplify fan glee, silliness, and irreverence, and provoke a rival team’s fanbase. These artists celebrate athletes’ rebellious streaks, and admire their disciplined feats of excellence.
Canadian Art feature on INCITE Journal: Sports
“Artists and curators program soccer-related art for gallery spaces—and kick around ideas about politics and power in the process”
POWER FORWARD
The artists in this exhibition draw upon the hidden and political histories of sports to open up analyses of the social world.
SPORTS MUSIC
A playlist of official and adopted team theme songs, rapping by professional athletes, music made for sports films, and sports-themed pop songs from the past six decades. Musical styles range from choral groups with orchestras, rousing anthems, and advertising jingles, to disco, soul, rock, hip hop, pop, and R&B.
