MA Critical Studies Student to Moderate Panel at PICA
November 09, 2023
On November 17th and 18th the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) will be hosting artists Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson's performance, Make Banana Cry. However, a special shout-out needs to go to one of our very own PNCA graduate students who will be moderating the discussion panel on the 17th, Jason Le (they/them)!
Le is a second-year Critical Studies student who has been active presenting scholarly work at academic conferences like ASAP/14 and also curating exhibitions for fellow PNCA students but also galleries in the Portland Metro area (e.g. Parallax Arts Center). Le is excited to lend their talents, skills, and experiences to moderate an important discussion on the nuances of Asian identity.
For more info and tickets for Make Banana Cry please refer to PICA's website.
Click here for more info on the MA in Critical Studies Program
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Performance Summary:
Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson - Make Banana Cry
November 17 and 18: In Make Banana Cry, six artists confront Western society’s perception of “Asianness” in a critical performance that reclaims, protests against, and subverts clichés. Sitting in the tension between identity and stereotypes, the performers continuously deconstruct cultural codes using an arsenal of randomly selected objects in an attempt to shake off the weight of violent representation and fetishization.
Make Banana Cry is a continuous barrage of body politics, a durational parade that contemplates the problematics of “universal” Western popular culture while drawing on the artistic background of each of the invited artists. Visual artist Dominique Petrin creates an immersive fake museum “exhibition” as the container for the work, encouraging the public to consider the history of colonization within cultural institutions and museums.