Brett's A-Pop Blog

I’m still in the process of narrowing the topic for my paper more, and hopefully the researching process helps me get more of a clear focus. I decided that along with focusing on my childhood I would also focus on the Midwest, where I spent the entirety of my childhood. I want to try not to homogenize Midwest culture because there are a lot of distinct and complex aspects to it as far as being a cultural location.

I’ve decided to focus more on one APIA group in a Midwest setting to narrow my topic more, which hopefully I will know by next week. I have a film to watch this weekend to help start my research called My America . . . or Honk If You Love Buddha by a documentarian named Renee Tajima-Peña (thanks, Chico). From what I’ve read of it so far it’s a documentary on Tajima-Peña driving around the country and examining what it means to be Asian-American in a racial landscape that has drastically changed since her childhood. It’s also inspired by On the Road by Jack Kerouac, which is a book I never read but have heard people talk about enough so that I think I have an okay understanding of the general plot. Maybe. We’ll see. I’ll talk about what I took away from the movie next week.

Posted in Rock | Comments Off on Project Thoughts pt. 2

Minidoka No. 5 (442nd), Roger Shimomura

While at the Tacoma Art Museum I saw this piece by Roger Shimomura, an artist from Seattle, entitled Minidoka No. 5 (442nd). According to the corresponding information it was created in a pop art style, a movement most known for being pioneered by Andy Warhol, and was created to confront the stereotypes that are associated with Asian Americans. It also serves as a piece to pay tribute to the Japanese American men who were in the U.S. military during World War 2, in spite of being prisoners due to their ancestry.

I guess I just wanted to make a post about this piece because it was my personal favorite that I saw at the art museum that day. I really loved how it specifically used the pop art style to convey its message, considering the works by Andy Warhol utilized American iconography like Campbell’s Soup and Marilyn Monroe; two things that are associated with dominant American culture in the 20th century. I also noticed that, in comparison with the Marilyn Monroe piece by Warhol, the men represented in each of the portraits are distinct, whereas the Monroe piece only shows the same picture of her over and over again, creating this narcissistic and homogenous effect. The Monroe piece was made soon after her death to memorialize her, but again through Warhol’s lense it seems narcissistic and self serving. This piece actually memorializes these men, while also subverting the stereotypes of the Japanese army, and Japanese men during World War 2.

I’m not really a great art critic, but this piece appealed to me due to the fact that it borrows from a style that has become iconic and ingrained in the American consciousness for years, despite the fact of it being glorified navel gazing and mostly devoid of any real meaning in my opinion, and makes it into something deeply personal and meaningful. Anyways, my opinions on Andy Warhol aside, I’m glad I was fortunate enough to see this piece in person, especially considering the reading this week.

Posted in Scissors | Comments Off on Minidoka No. 5 (442nd), Roger Shimomura