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Globalization and Ethnic Identity in the Art of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Yong Soon Min, and Nikki S

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Globalization and Ethnic Identity in the Art of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Yong Soon Min, and Nikki S ABSTRACT Title of Document: GLOBALIZATION AND ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE ART OF THERESA HAK KYUNG CHA, YONG SOON MIN, AND NIKKI S. LEE. Yookyoung Choi, PhD, 2012 Directed By: Professor Joshua A. Shannon, Department of Art History and Archaeology This dissertation offers a comparative study of the work of three Korean American women artists: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951-1982), Yong Soon Min (1953-), and Nikki S. Lee (1970-). While the works by these three artists have garnered some critical attention, they have never been the subject of in-depth art historical research. Embracing the artistic media of photography, film, and video in their work these three artists express a common concern about their identities as simultaneously Koreans, Americans, and women. By looking at these artists‘ work together, this dissertation explores how the three artists negotiate their hybrid cultural identities in a globalized contemporary America. This dissertation also examines the role of photography, film, and video as their major artistic media following the art practice of the 1970s‘ Conceptualism. Cha‘s subtle and allusive film and video installation, Exilée (1980), for example, features images associated with the colonial history of her home country along with images and text about trans-pacific passage. Min‘s work from the 1990s includes photographs of writing on her own body, and images referring to historical events in both Korea and the United States. In her performative series of photographs entitled Projects (1997-2001), Lee disguises herself as a member of various social and cultural groups, trying to assimilate into them. Together, the three artists offer an intensive comparative case study of the ways in which hybrid cultural identity can be figured in the contemporary world. Focusing on the interpretive analysis of selected art works, the dissertation will show the unique intensity of the visual arts as a tool to communicate concepts of cultural identities, while also bringing needed specificity to the theoretical debates on the issues of cultural and ethnic identities. GLOBALIZATION AND ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE ART OF THERESA HAK KYUNG CHA, YONG SOON MIN, AND NIKKI S. LEE By YOOKYOUNG CHOI Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor Joshua A. Shannon, Chair Professor Renée Ater Professor Abigail McEwen Professor Helen Langa Professor Seung-kyung Kim © Copyright by Yookyoung Choi 2012 The dissertation document that follows has had referenced material removed in respect for the owner‘s copyright. A complete version of this document, which includes said referenced material, resides in the University of Maryland, College Park‘s library collection. ii To My Mother iii Acknowledgements My dissertation would not have come into fruition without the support of many individuals. I would like to express special gratitude to my advisor at the University of Maryland, Professor Joshua A. Shannon who has offered thoughtful suggestions and continuous encouragement throughout the long process of research and writing. I also would like to thank Professors Renée Ater, Helen Langa, and Seung-kyung Kim, in whose courses I have learned a great deal, and who served on my dissertation committee. I am grateful to another valuable member of the committee, Professor Abigail McEwen, who willingly devoted her time and energy to read my dissertation. I have benefited greatly from the insightful comments of these members of my dissertation committee. I also thank Dr. Quint Gregory and Dr. Lauree Sails whose kindness and encouragement made my graduate study a joyful experience. My dissertation benefited from the financial support of the Art History Department which offered me teaching and research assistantships. I also would like to acknowledge the Asian American Studies Program which awarded me with a research fund, and the Graduate School which provided me with the Goldhaber Travel Award. I greatly appreciate Professor Yong Soon Min for her hospitality and generosity during interview and follow up emails, and Nikki S. Lee for her engrossing phone interviews. I am deeply grateful to many family members who have supplied me immeasurable moral support throughout my graduate career. I could never have completed the long journey of dissertation writing without their love and constant iv support. I owe my most heartfelt thanks to my husband whose love and patience kept me going to the end. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Bok Ja Kim, who is now in heaven, in appreciation for her unconditional love and devotion. v Table of Contents Dedication .................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Selection of the Artists .............................................................................................. 2 Asian American Art History ..................................................................................... 5 Globalization and the Formation of Asian American Identity................................ 12 Organization of the Dissertation ............................................................................. 18 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1: Haunted by Memories of Home: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha ...................... 23 Literature Review on Cha‘s Work .......................................................................... 24 Cha‘s Background ................................................................................................... 31 Searching for the Roots of the Language ................................................................ 39 Cha‘s Work and Poststructuralist Film Theory ...................................................... 55 Valorizing the Difference of a Korean American ................................................... 65 Chapter 2: Connecting to History: Yong Soon Min ................................................... 92 Literature Review on Min‘s Work .......................................................................... 92 Min‘s Background .................................................................................................. 98 Opening to the History of Home ........................................................................... 100 Connecting to the Minjung Movement ................................................................. 106 Asian American Woman ....................................................................................... 119 Yearning for Reunification ................................................................................... 124 Chapter 3: A New Asian Cosmopolitan Identity: Nikki S. Lee ................................ 152 Literature Review on Lee‘s Work ......................................................................... 153 Lee‘s Background ................................................................................................. 158 Desiring Assimilation?.......................................................................................... 160 A New Asian Immigrant ....................................................................................... 171 Indulging in Popular Stereotypes .......................................................................... 189 Commodified Identity ........................................................................................... 195 East-West: Self-Orientalization ............................................................................ 202 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 210 Figures....................................................................................................................... 218 Appendix ................................................................................................................... 254 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 255 vi List of Figures Figure1. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Aveugle Voix, 1975. Performed at Bluxome Street, San Francisco. Eight black-and-white photographs, 9½ʺ x 6¾ʺ.Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Archive, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. Figure 2. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Amer. C. 1976. Works on Fabric, 60ʺ x 36ʺ. Collection of Cha‘s family. Illustrated in Constance M. Lewallen, Dream of the Audience exh.cat (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2001), p. 105. Figure 3. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Mouth-to-Mouth, 1975. Single-channel videotape with sound; 8 minutes; DVD. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Archive, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. Figure 4. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Barren Cave Mute, 1974. Performed at Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley. Twenty-six black-and-white photographs, 8ʺ x 10ʺ each. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Archive, University Art Museum,
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