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Blog 8: (10.24.2019): Body Workshop and Reflections

Our final class was an inside look of how the visiting Chinese documentarians--Wu Wenguang, Zhang Mengqi, and Hu Tao work on creating film space. The session began with yoga, moving to a circle where we combined motion and word, followed by a circle where we manipulated and transferred energy to one another. We transitioned to groups where we followed leaders making noises and sounds, gradually moving to film scenes of our own interpretation. The session allowed us to create scenes where groups formed one unit that on one hand appeared to be a dragon with wings, while it could also be interpreted as a divide between heaven and hell. 

The union of body, mind, and energy allowed for our creative juices to flow, and resulted in a calming, relaxing environment that took structure away from the session. A lot of the energy and relaxation reminds me of orchestral arrangement in Studio Ghibli films. As a whole, Studio Ghibli does remarkably on their films and their soundtracks. Located in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan, Studio Ghibli has reached worldwide audiences which is fitting for its name ‘Giburi’ (‘hot desert wind’ in Libyan-Arabic), created with the ideo that they would “blow a new wind through the anime industry”. One of the arrangements that comes to mind is the “Legend of Ashitaka” from Princess Mononoke (1996), a film connecting the destructive nature of human consumption with the animals and nature surrounding them. The atmosphere created in class seemed natural, organic experience that is emphasized in this film and elicited through the immersive soundtrack. Other masterpieces are “One Summer’s Day” from Spirited Away (2001), and “Merry Go Round of Life” from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). They all have a power to remove oneself from the quick pace of the modern world. Ultimately, this class experience as a whole has been an alternative way of learning, prompting lots of reflection on stories and power of people to create their own lives. 

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Blog 7: Library Archives (10.17.2019)

Experiencing the immersive and cultural journey of Samuel Vincent Constant through his ornately decorated literary artifact in Perkins library, I learned about the chinese peddlers. While they lived seemingly mundane lives, they have such a dynamic and well-integrated system where they sing “peddler tunes” that are unique to the product they’re selling. Our Chinese history lesson evolved into a discussion the Great Famine’s destructive role of Chinese history that wiped out so many rural villagers. Discussion transitioned into a discussion of the Memory Project. Wu Wenguang is a pioneer in Chinese film-making for his efforts in bringing these hidden stories of affected rural families into the public. As important as these stories are, they created controversy with the Chinese government because of the projects’ revealing of issues within the Chinese government with their supplying resources to those of need. 

Local rural village discussion led me to reflect on a popular contemporary song titled “Cheng Du” by Zhao Lei, which he wrote when missing his old, Cheng Du (成都）. When hearing this song in China from my friends in Beijing in the summer of 2017, I heard that this song resonates with many individuals and their memories of their own hometowns. Although a contemporary interpretation, it reflects the importance of home, stories, and preservation of tradition that is important to Chinese culture.

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Blog 6: Homelessness (10.10.2019)

This week we presented our projects from the weekend and how the owners of Heirloom aimed to bring authentic Asian cuisine to share with the greater Raleigh community. Their philosophy is to use Asian food to speak and teach, by being unashamedly different they connect multi-generational experiences from their history. Those who are open and receptive thus learn of the beauties of culture through cuisine. Stories fuel society from the ground up; as we continued to hear about our peers’ project on documenting the homeless experience in LA. Through an online photo campaign, they were able to bring out the true colors and personalities of many of the individuals on the outskirts of society. An emphasis was placed to turn away from the classification of these individuals as homeless, and realizing that they are merely experiencing homelessness. 

I reflected on the song “One Day” by Maher Zain, which I heard alongside learning about the Dadaab Refugee Complex in Kenya--the third largest camp in the world housing over 200,000 refugees. Zain’s song speaks of the loss of loved ones that relates to the experiences many refugees must be feeling, particularly the idea of prospective hope praises Allah with the understanding that “I know one day I’ll be home again to start a new life, with peace everywhere”--it  represents the burning fire within that makes life worth living. I find this to emanate some of the experiences of those experiencing homelessness--while they may lack a physical shelter and home, they have internal drives that bring color to their lives.

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Blog 5: Heirloom, Sofia by Alvaro Soler (10.3.2019)

This week we worked on our immersion projects, where we discussed how to interview local residents of North Carolina of Asian descent. North Carolina is exposed to a multitude of Asian immigrants, which was largely influenced by the huge influx of Chinese families in the mid-1800s hoping to settle and find lives in America. As we learned several weeks ago about the Chinese family who opened up a non-Chinese shop to survive in Cary, immigrants sought to find methods to create a living--oftentimes this involved attempting to open restaurants. Unfortunately, Caucasian Americans imposed extremely racist tendencies, throwing unoriginal racist phrases with “ching” or “chong” and trashing restaurants. Without any authority in a foreign country, they could only sit idly as they were disrespected on a personal level and on a systemic level with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Therefore, we chose to focus our project on hearing the stories of modern immigrants and how they came to create a home and a name in North Carolina, specifically in Raleigh with the opening of the Heirloom coffee, tea, and sake shop. This led me to reflect on the fluidity of cultures in contemporary society and my relationship with my language partner that I met in China. When she introduced her favorite song to me, I was incorrectly expecting a Chinese song but was rewarded with a Spanish song titled “Sofia” by Alvaro Soler. This moment blended cultural exposure to link American, Spanish, and Chinese perspectives in a manner that reflects the growing progressiveness in our world.

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Blog 4: Tinh Yeu Mau Nang (9.26.2019)

This week I am attempting to blend songs that I have been reflecting on. Last week’s class with Aaron from DocX has me curious about how to blend songs differently than just piecing them together. It would be interesting to have songs come from all different directions and blend together during transitions. It would also be quite interesting to have a mix of images and videos portrayed in a way that may be more immersive, perhaps using features like the one DocX used on their documentary page to create an  air of historic box TVs. 

Although my testing of this audio experience did not contain songs; I have been listening to and reflecting on a song titled “Tình Yêu Màu Nắng”. When I was in Vietnam, the first Vietnamese song I heard when singing to the guitar on the balcony with our Vietnamese roommates was Tình Yêu Màu Nắng, translated best to “Sunny Love”. Throughout the trip, we have been singing this song and culminated our end-of-the-program culture show blending this song and “Can’t Take My Eyes off of You”. This blend of cultures in one song performance was very memorable as a moment transcending national boundaries. 

I hope that with further research on popular artists in the countries which I have covered so far, I can analyze music trends to see what mainstream artists in each country place into their songs, to see how popular music compares across the world. I also hope to see if I can discover what the appeal of international songs is, and why it is so prevalent across nations. 

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Blog 3: Home (9.19.2019)

The concept of home can often be transient, and when someone is displaced among people in a community is the time that a place feels most distant from home. Like Destini who felt oppressed and targeted by the judicial system when her brother was unrightfully arrested, or the Chinese-American family that opened a Soul Food place in Cary, North Carolina, minorities must modify their lives when living in any given society. 

I heard a Korean song this summer while in Vietnam called “Way Back Home”; two versions of the song were played in both English and Korean. The piece is essentially a love song where the singer associates their relationship with memories of home, but I found the context and the different stylistic approaches. The English version featuring Conor Maynard translates SHAUN’s song into English, and this modification of songs in popular culture suggest the increase of globalization in media. Both of these songs made their way into our experience in the country-side town of Quang Tri, Vietnam, further illuminating how accessible international art is. This song brings back memories with my roommate and my students in what felt like a second home, but I find it quite interesting that in a seemingly fully Vietnamese town, it was very apparent that regions of the world are moving away from monolithic cultures.

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Blog 2: Negro Terror and Vybz Kartel (9.12.2019)

Last week’s discussion with Ra’Id about his band Negro Terror and watching the documentary taught me a lot about black-influenced punk music specifically, and how they blended their angry punk style against white supremacists with the calm philosophies of Buddhism and the Higher Krishna. One of the many comments that struck me about this conversation was how Ra’Id emphasized that their music was not for popularity, but to express honesty and truth about their background and upbringing as African-Americans in the predominantly white town of Memphis, Tennessee. Although Negro Terror has received many death threats and hatred from white supremacists through YouTube, they continue visiting churches and playing publicly because it empowers the marginalized community members who want their oppressed voices heard. Omar is pictured below. 

This reminded me of my discussions with my friend Okieve (below), in Jamaica, who shared with me his musical interests. Among his top artists were Tommy Lee Sparta, who was the cousin of of Okieve’s late friend. Sparta was a disciple of sorts to the infamous Vybz Kartel, who is currently on a life sentence for two murders. Their music style, “Gothic Dancehall”, often draws from dark, Satanic views and would not be well-received in America (so I would imagine). From what I now understand, Jamaica is strongly supported by tourist revenue, and people are very hospitable to create a happy-go-lucky feel when one interacts with locals as an outsider. Within the depths of the cities; however, there is much gang violence and lives may be ended on any given night by gunshot. This is true for many urban environments, but it seemed that Okieve knew what he was talking about when he mentioned that he had a late friend who was Tommy Lee Sparta’s blood relative. This would explain the popularity of this music, and why Vybz Kartel has empowered people such as Tommy Lee Sparta to rap about issues that plague society such as death. Songs by Tommy Lee Sparta include Demon Girl and Reality Story. Vybz Kartel sings Mr Bleach Chin. 

My personal view of Jamaica prior was influenced by pop culture and the unifying lyrics of Bob Marley. Through discussion with Okieve; however, I began to learn two dimensions of Jamaican lifestyle. There still exists the world-unifying, collaborative mindset of songs like “One Love” and “Three Little Birds”, that tell everyone to “get together and be alright” or “don’t worry about a thing”. When understanding music though, all dimensions must be investigated to understand why people express their art the way they do, as in the case of Vybz Kartel or Tommy Lee Sparta. 

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Blog 1: Taiwan and Friends (9.5.2019)

As I was thinking about how I wanted to portray culture through audio and visuals, I realized I have grown up exposed to music from Taiwan from my mother and father. These songs have played a role in my life, evoking memories of my immediate family, cousins in Maryland, and cousins or uncles and aunts that I visit as I return to Taiwan. 

朋友 (peng you) is a song by Zhou HuaJian (Emil Wakin Chau) that brings back memories of childhood whenever I hear its tune. It means “Friends”. I attribute the alignment of the fruitful memories and this song to the melody and the lyrics that Zhou Huajian formulated. The song ends its repeating chorus with four short sentences, Yí jù huà, yí bèi zi, yì shēng qíng, yì bēi jiǔ, translating in English to “One word. One life. A lifetime friendship. A glass of wine.” These phrases encompass a wide array of emotions and reveal the strength of friendship, since many of the other lyrics refer to how he looks back on bittersweet memories and realizes that although there were tears and they no longer walk alongside each other, he knows that they will move forward and have each other when needed. With music, visuals are often generated within one’s mind. For Zhou Huajian, this is depicted in his music video which shows laughter and memories of him with his school rugby team (below) as he reminisces on these times.

On June 9th, 2013 I filmed a video myself about this song. Watching the video; however, the viewer will realize that the visuals are completely black. In this moment, I was sitting in a car on the way back from a birthday dinner with my cousin, aunt, and uncle at a Chinese restaurant where I strongly remember feasting on copious amounts of lobster. My father had played 朋友 and I was reflecting on how I wanted this song accessible at all times, so that relive this memory and many others prior. As a result, I sat there and recorded the chorus of the song. Similar to my thought process during this moment of connecting music with family, I realize, in part due to the words of John Berger in Ways of Seeing, that art is about perspective. Artists pull from both their own memory and their imagination to create. In this case, the art form is music that has touched many different lives beyond the original source. As part of a prospective project, I hope to recreate this form of art into my own, by laying out a music video with people and places that I associate with this song. A gallery of some of these images and media are shown below.