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Roger Shimomura, Artist, Collector
By Nancy Matsumoto
1 Mar 2013
Discover NikkeiPictured Above:
1. “Kansas Samurai,” 2004
2. “American Guardian,” 2007
3. “Enter the Rice Cooker,” 1994Earlier this week, I attended the opening of Japanese American artist Roger Shimomura’s exhibit at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute’s new digs at 8 Washington Mews, a part of New York University.
The Seattle-born Sansei (third-generation Japanese American), who’s spending this year as artist-in-residence at A/P/A, has made a name for himself as a painter, printmaker, and theater artist. His visual work speaks the language of pop art, comic books, Japanese wood-block prints, and manga, but their bright, shiny surfaces upend expectations by delivering sly doses of subversive commentary on race and exclusion.
The A/P/A exhibit focuses on Shimomura’s screen prints and lithographs, along with selections he’s made from his collection of pop and kitsch Americana. The two parts of his life, his work and collecting (everything from mutant peanut shells to wind-up toys, Disney memorabilia, and folk art) have informed and shaped each other, Shimomura says.
In Kansas Samurai, Shimomura depicts himself as a samurai warrior, defiant in the face of rejection by mainstream culture, represented Dick Tracy, Popeye, Donald Duck, and Pluto, whose backs are turned to him.
Shimomura spent several of his early childhood years in the Minidoka, Idaho U.S. government prison camp during World War II, and the camps and their barbed wire are recurring motifs in his work. Included in the exhibit is a pair of Shimomura’s over 50 salt-and-pepper shaker sets in the form of geta, the traditional Japanese wooden clogs that prison camp inmates fashioned out of found wood to keep their feet above the muck during trips to the communal lavatories and showers.
In American Guardian, a guard in a Japanese prison camp, machine gun between his knees, observes a small-boy version of the artist himself riding a tricycle.
Another source of inspiration were the 56 years’ worth of diaries kept by his grandmother, who arrived in America as a picture bride and worked for decades as a midwife. Shimomura had parts of her diaries translated and then incorporated into scripts for performance art pieces he staged during his long tenure as art professor at the University of Kansas. He included one of those diaries in the exhibit, part of a trove of personal papers that is being collected by the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art.
When an audience member asked whether incorporating racist images and monikers in his work undermines attempts to enlighten the public about their offensiveness, he replied, “To make it go away, you have to make it appear first…in some ways I am bringing things up that are painful in order to make them go away.”
Prints of Pop (& War)
Curated by Roger Shimomura
A/P/A Institute at NYU, Gallery
8 Washington Mews
New York, NY 10003
(212) 992-9635
Through May 9, 2013* Re-posted from Discover Nikkei contributor Nancy Matsumoto’s blog, Walking and Talking (October 24, 2012)
© 2013 Nancy Matsumoto
Ill Again - Blackbird
Los Angeles, California
a blackbird flies over the metropolis
flying high, anticipating apocalypse
but god’s ominous despite all that’s haunting us
a bird sings, silhouetted wings dawning us
the cool breeze brings calm for a second and
the blackbird touches the ground and I’m reckoning
that hope floats, but the truth flies high
the bird’s song carries on like something beyond was beckoning
(via asianamsmakingmusic)
I am so freakin’ excited for this album…!!!
Since he’s using an excerpt from one of my reviews for this forthcoming album’s publicity, I’ll just re-post that here:
Fantastic horror soundscapes from Australia… many elements that give the feel of “diegetic” ambience, but with enough dark undertones and manipulations that elevate (or descend) the atmosphere into a nightmarish realm.
Here are some other reviews:
“Reaches right down into the soul while the world moves in slow motion. Less than lesser. The weight of humanity closes in until there is nothing left…” -Helen Suzanne (Sleepingenius)
“This is amongst the best dark ambient albums I’ve EVER heard. A masterpiece. Haunting, pushing and dragging to dwell in the deepest layers of the Mind.” -Utu Lautturi“Very dark and very thrilling. Hard tension for mind, and sinking into deep space…” -Takenori Iwasaki (Mora-Tau)
Available on March 1st here!
“LPjan21” by Nick Grimshaw [Oakville, Canada]
Serene, distorted, atmospheric film score for a Wednesday morning. :)
Just ordered Both Before I’m Gone, Trio B.C., and Exits & All The Rest!
So excited!!!!! :) :) :)
A CHILDRENS BOOK
i read this when i was like 10 idk how i did it
“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” and “Scary Stories 3” by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Steven Gammell! :)
All three together for $3 at Barnes & Noble… O.O
(Source: foxmuldder, via pekopekopompom)
貫花 [Nuchibana] is a two-part Ryukyuan dance that consists of Dakidun Bushi and Nandaki.
3 Strings And A Snakeskin: Okinawa’s Native Instrument
Originally posted by NPR Music
by Lucy Craft
December 04, 2012 2:00 AM
Click here to listen to the segment
Jamaica has reggae and Hawaii has its distinct, Polynesian-influenced melodies. But far more obscure — because it’s not sung in the English language — is another island-music genre: the native songs of Okinawa in subtropical Japan. Okinawan music remains enormously popular at home, and has been featured in collaborations with Western artists like Ry Cooder, as well as the world-music label of David Byrne.
In the capital of Naha, student Kazuki Oyama sits cross-legged on the campus of Okinawa University and runs through a number with his performing-arts club. The long-necked instrument they’re playing looks like a banjo, but it’s covered in snakeskin and has just three strings. Oyama says the simple-looking instrument — known as the sanshin — is tough to master.
“Unlike the guitar, you pluck the strings one at a time and the music is written not as notes, but as Chinese characters,” Oyama says.
British writer John Potter was so besotted with the Okinawan vibe, he moved to the city three years ago.
“More than anywhere else in Japan, Okinawan music still plays a big part in people’s lives,” Potter says. “Even though younger people might be more interested in modern pop music and hip-hop and things like that, they would also — even if they didn’t have a tremendous interest in Okinawan music — they would also know about it. It’s just there all the time.”
Okinawans are renowned for their longevity, strong community ties and laid-back attitude. That’s kept traditional music front and center as native music grew irrelevant in the rest of modern Japan. Music here is so ubiquitous, Potter says, it even follows Okinawans long after they’re gone — it’s played at grave sites, when families pay respects to their ancestors.
Love, Booze And Hot Water
At the Shimaumui pub in downtown Naha, 41-year-old musician Taku Oshiro says his lyrics, sung in the vanishing Okinawan dialect, cover the full range of human drama.
“Since this is music by the common folk, the themes are love, romantic problems, or someone got drunk and in hot water,” Oshiro says. “They’re like songs anywhere. It’s also about life lessons and hopes for a good harvest.”
Okinawan music, which dates back centuries, features the call-and-response phrasing also common in African cultures.
“The sanshin comes in between the words; it fleshes out the words, fills in the spaces in between the words rather than playing melodies,” Potter says. “So it’s used in a kind of different way to maybe a guitar accompaniment. You won’t find a big sanshin solo in the middle of the song — it’s simply used to accompany the words and make the words stand out more.”
Rehabilitation
Ethnomusicologist Matt Gillan says this music — once the culture of a scorned Japanese underclass — has been dramatically rehabilitated in recent decades. He recalls an elderly sanshin musician who was warned early in his life to find a different career.
“The sanshin had this image of rather undesirable characters who drank too much and messed around with women,” Gillan says. “So he became a professional musician anyway. About seven years ago, he was made a ‘living national treasure’ by the Japanese government.”
Sanshin has also been blended with Western instruments to create a hybrid, like in the song “Haisai Ojisan,” by local legend Shoukichi Kina.
Repeatedly subject to foreign occupation, most Okinawans, remarkably, don’t sing the blues, but have maintained a sunny outlook on life — an attitude that colors their music. This strikes many outsiders as ironic, given the former independent kingdom’s turbulent and tragic history. In their art, as in their lives, Okinawans keep saying that things will all work out in the end.
THIS SATURDAY!!!!! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD (here’s the Japanese version of the flyer).
On Saturday, February 9th, an Okinawa-based production group called SHIP OF THE RYUKYU will be presenting their theatrical rendition of a popular Okinawan folk tale in Torrance, California’s James R. Armstrong Theatre. “The Legend of Hagoromo” tells the story of a mortal man’s marriage to a celestial woman, as performed through Okinawan Kageki (opera). Expect a mixture of lively traditional music, dramatic scenes of grace and serenity, and most importantly, “Chimugukuru” (the Okinawan heart and spirit)!
Just in time for the Lunar New Year, “The Legend of Hagoromo” will be a live theater production made up entirely of Okinawa-based singers, actors, and musicians. It will surely be a treat for audience members of all generations, as the SHIP OF THE RYUKYU’s young performers breathe new life into this classic legend with original choreography and expressive acting that aims to transcend the language barrier. The opera will also include Zouodori, a set of performances that lean more toward the folksy, energetic styles of Okinawan music and dance.
The event is being supported by the Gardena-based Okinawa Association of America, Inc. (OAA), whose mission is to preserve and share the Okinawan culture. “It isn’t often that we get to host performers and productions from Okinawa, so this is definitely a blessing and a worthwhile endeavor,” Joseph Kamiya, OAA publicity and social media volunteer. “We hope that local Okinawans and Okinawans-at-heart feel the same way!”
A special scene was added at the end for this performance in Los Angeles, particularly keeping in mind the large Okinawan population here. The SHIP OF THE RYUKYU’s wish is for “people who are so far away from Okinawa would be able to feel their home by seeing this performance… for people who are born in the US to feel Okinawa…”
“The Legend of Hagoromo” will be presented at the James R. Armstrong Theatre (Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance 90503) on Saturday, February 9th at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $20.00 for general admission seating. Tickets can be purchased through the Okinawa Association of America (OAA) office located in Gardena. Call (310) 532-1929 or emailmensore@earthlink.net.
The Legend of Hagoromo: Okinawa-based theatre group aims to transcend the language barrier
On Saturday, February 9th, an Okinawa-based production group called SHIP OF THE RYUKYU will be presenting their theatrical rendition of a popular Okinawan folk tale in Torrance, California’s James R. Armstrong Theatre. “The Legend of Hagoromo” tells the story of a mortal man’s marriage to a celestial woman, as performed through Okinawan Kageki (opera). Expect a mixture of lively traditional music, dramatic scenes of grace and serenity, and most importantly, “Chimugukuru” (the Okinawan heart and spirit)!
Just in time for the Lunar New Year, “The Legend of Hagoromo” will be a live theater production made up entirely of Okinawa-based singers, actors, and musicians. It will surely be a treat for audience members of all generations, as the SHIP OF THE RYUKYU’s young performers breathe new life into this classic legend with original choreography and expressive acting that aims to transcend the language barrier. The opera will also include Zouodori, a set of performances that lean more toward the folksy, energetic styles of Okinawan music and dance.
The event is being supported by the Gardena-based Okinawa Association of America, Inc. (OAA), whose mission is to preserve and share the Okinawan culture. “It isn’t often that we get to host performers and productions from Okinawa, so this is definitely a blessing and a worthwhile endeavor,” Joseph Kamiya, OAA publicity and social media volunteer. “We hope that local Okinawans and Okinawans-at-heart feel the same way!”
A special scene was added at the end for this performance in Los Angeles, particularly keeping in mind the large Okinawan population here. The SHIP OF THE RYUKYU’s wish is for “people who are so far away from Okinawa would be able to feel their home by seeing this performance… for people who are born in the US to feel Okinawa…”
“The Legend of Hagoromo” will be presented at the James R. Armstrong Theatre (Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance 90503) on Saturday, February 9th at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $20.00 for general admission seating. Tickets can be purchased through the Okinawa Association of America (OAA) office located in Gardena. Call (310) 532-1929 or email mensore@earthlink.net.
Many thanks to those who liked and reblogged this! It’s happening THIS SATURDAY, so please continue spreading the word so that more Southern California locals can learn about this event. :)
(via serispaghetti)
