Description

Book Synopsis
Vivian L. Huang retheorizes the stereotype of inscrutability as a queer aesthetic strategy within contemporary Asian American cultural life.

Trade Review
"This book provides an overflowing fountain of information on Asian American inscrutability. The artworks that are analyzed are provocative and eye-opening, and the depth of understanding that Huang has for the subject matter is unsurpassable. Overall, Surface Relations is the ideal text for anybody who wants to further their specific research on queer and feminist Asian American artistic expression." -- Shandy Frey * ARLIS/NA Reviews *

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Inscrutable Surfacing 1
1. Invisibility and the Vanishing Point of Asian/American Visuality 25
2. Silence and Parasitic Hospitality in the Works of Yoko Ono, Laurel Nakadate, and Emma Sulkowicz 47
3. Im/penetrability, Trans Figuration, and Unreliable Surfacing 73
4. Flatness, Industriousness, and Laborious Flexibility 105
5. Distance, Negativity, and Slutty Sociality in Tseng Kwong Chi’s Performance Photographs 135
Conclusion: Something Is Missing 165
Notes 187
Bibliography 207
Index 221

Surface Relations

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    A Hardback by Vivian L. Huang

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      Book details

      Publisher Duke University Press
      Published 18 November 2022
      ISBN-13 9781478016359
      978-1478016359
      ISBN-10 1478016353
      Also in:
      Social and cultural history

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Vivian L. Huang retheorizes the stereotype of inscrutability as a queer aesthetic strategy within contemporary Asian American cultural life.

      Trade Review
      "This book provides an overflowing fountain of information on Asian American inscrutability. The artworks that are analyzed are provocative and eye-opening, and the depth of understanding that Huang has for the subject matter is unsurpassable. Overall, Surface Relations is the ideal text for anybody who wants to further their specific research on queer and feminist Asian American artistic expression." -- Shandy Frey * ARLIS/NA Reviews *

      Table of Contents
      Acknowledgments ix
      Introduction: Inscrutable Surfacing 1
      1. Invisibility and the Vanishing Point of Asian/American Visuality 25
      2. Silence and Parasitic Hospitality in the Works of Yoko Ono, Laurel Nakadate, and Emma Sulkowicz 47
      3. Im/penetrability, Trans Figuration, and Unreliable Surfacing 73
      4. Flatness, Industriousness, and Laborious Flexibility 105
      5. Distance, Negativity, and Slutty Sociality in Tseng Kwong Chi’s Performance Photographs 135
      Conclusion: Something Is Missing 165
      Notes 187
      Bibliography 207
      Index 221

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