By: Chloe Shiau, Kou Xiong, and Thuy Trinh Nguyen
This week’s influence was channeled by ideas of being a half Vietnamese half American child, which they call the “war babies.” These war babies were not accepted in Vietnam because they were not fully Vietnamese. For our flag, we combined a Vietnamese flag used before 1975, which consists of a yellow flag with three red stripes, with an American flag, to show the identity of being Vietnamese Amerasian. On the top of the Vietnamese flag, you will see a Vietnamese woman holding a baby up towards the sky, just like in the Lion King scene - imagine instead of Rafiki is holding Simba, the woman is holding the baby. This shows that many Vietnamese mothers had to give up their children because their mixed racial children were not accepted in Vietnam, just like those in “From Dust to Gold: the Vietnamese Amerasian Experience.” On top of the American flag, you will see the American soldier on the helicopter taking away the baby that does not belong.
This notion of “war baby” was also mentioned by guest lecturer Dr. Wei Ming Dariotis, who is half White and half Chinese. She spoke with us in lecture about the negative questions and comments that are asked/raised to her and other multiracial individuals. Dr. Wei Ming Dariotis mentioned that someone asked her if her existence or her parents marriage happened because of the war, but she was born in 1967 and the only war the was going on then was the Cold War. They asked if she was a war baby or a love child following the question about the war too.
As artists, we were inspired and astonished about how being a multiracial individual automatically removes you from society. Even as a child, when you don’t even know your own identity - where you come from, who you are, and especially what your race even is - there are people already there shutting you out.
Very thoughtful piece incorporating lessons from class. The flag represents your thoughts very well. I would suggest that you not mention the class but rather make it more of an artist statement. Not everyone would have taken this course or care. They are more interested in your art and how you conceptualized it. I think what could have made the work better is if you analyzed the material and maybe even challenged it more. Similarly, if you took risks in your art, it could have really put it over the top.
ReplyDeleteAn adept commentary of the notions of war baby and love child and how it negatively impacts the psyche of mixed race people. The flag is well made and it is supported by a well-written artist statement.
ReplyDeleteReally like all the creativity in aesthetics, references, and symbols. I was confused that in the statement, it says that the soldier on the helicopter is going to take the baby, but it doesn't look like so.
ReplyDeleteYour groups final paragraph in your statement is one that summarizes all that mixed race children experience right from their birth. A job well done on the flag, I particularly enjoyed the connecting of the three red stripes between the two flags as a bridge. The silhouettes are general so as to represent the event happened to many Vietnamese women who was involved with American soldiers and had "war babies." Your group did nicely in incorporating Dr. Dariotis' talk with the book we are reading in class. Your statement and visual is a job well done.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful and well crafted. Really creative, too. An interesting way to point out the two completely different worlds that come together to make war babies.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept behind the flag by incorporating the US and South Vietnamese flags. It tells the audience the notion of "War Baby" and I like how it is portrayed by making the flag halved. The flag looks aesthetically appealing and overall a great job. No need for improvements.
ReplyDeleteI like how that even for those that may not even know about the Amerasian struggles, they can grasp a part of the story just from looking at the flag itself. The flag tells a story on its own before the artist statement is even read. The execution of the flag is nice as well! As far as the artist statement goes, I thought it was well done as it introduced the struggles that the Amerasian children dealt with and also the mixed race as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI really like the creativity and concepts that are incorporated in this flag. The topic of war baby/ love child is clearly displayed and the artist statement does a great job in explaining the meaning behind the image. I think that the explanation of why war babies in Vietnam were not accepted really brings the meaning of the flag to life. I think that this art piece does a great job touching upon the experiences of mixed race people.
ReplyDeleteThrough your artwork and statement, the concept of war baby/ love child was very clear. While the Vietnamese people did not want the mixed race population to exist in their country, in my opinion, it is also important to highlight the issues that the Vietnamese Amerasians dealt with in America as well. Since you chose to talk about mixed race individuals being shut out by the society, your statement would be a great place to continue the idea of being shut out in Vietnam to also being shut out in America.
ReplyDeleteI like how the piece is very straight forward and easy to understand without the artist statement. It incorporated the idea of conflict between the two countries, and how the kids are forced to stuck in between. I think the artist statement can dig in deeper into how you get the inspiration of creating such art work rather than listing the inspirations. Also the artist statement can go in deeper about shutting out from either side and getting "passed" by the community. Overall good job!
ReplyDeleteI thought the piece was simple and powerful, it looks great and is easy to understand. The artist statement does a good job going into detail about the flag as well as how your group came up with the concept. Overall I thought you did a good job and can't think of anything to add.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is very straightforward with the dichotomy between Vietnam and America's flag, man, woman, and child but it almost feels a bit safe. It seems very expected to literally combine the flags of Vietnam and American and I question why the figures are cut off on the bottom at different lengths. But still, it is a very thoughtful piece and I see the love and pain seen among war babies and the vietnam war as a whole. The statement accompanies the piece very well and it still feels like a very genuine and reflective artwork as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe artwork and artist statement both reinforce and add on to the conversation around representations of Amerasian very well. It would be interesting to see the child unifying both mother and father together. Perhaps you could do more research on a specific Amerasian individual and examine how they unified their Vietnamese family, their mother, and their fathers who were once American soldiers? Please try to complicate the narrative of Amerasian through a particular case study to tease out the sociopolitical nuances and reclamation of agency in the Amerasian experience.
ReplyDeleteYour flag is very profound and straight-forward. I could immediately tell that this was related to War Child/ Love Baby. I like how you chose to put the child in the middle of the split between the two flags - that really put the message forward and touched on the Amerasian experience.
ReplyDeleteI wonder the connection of how Rafiki was holding Simba up high with the mother holding the war baby up high. In the Disney movie Lion King, Simba was not given up by his parents. Besides this, the artists have used concepts from class and have created a simplistic design with a bold statement about the concept of War/Love children.
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