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Jul. 11th, 2010 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furyofvissarionA Wizard of Mars - Diane Duane. I was actually slightly disappointed in this, the ninth Young Wizards book, though a large chunk of it isn't any reflection on Duane: I'm just not hugely interested in Mars, or space in general. Another Deep Wizardry-type book that takes place in the ocean? Yes please! But Mars? Ehhhhh. Plus, I think after the panic-strickenness of Wizards at War, where everything felt hugely urgent (even more so than usual in this series) and there was a real sense of vastness in terms of the number of wizards pulling together and old friends coming back to play their part, this book in comparison felt rather flat.
Anyway, in this installment, Kit and some other wizards are trying to figure out what happened to previous life on Mars. Kit makes a big discovery and starts acting weird and secretive. He and Nita get tense with each other; he thinks she's hovering over everything she does; she thinks he's leaving her out. The two are teenagers now, so add to the mix perfectly believable and reasonable awkwardness about their relationship and sexuality stuff in general. Plotwise it makes perfect sense. I found a lot of it tiresome, though, and when this tension becomes central to solving the mystery of Mars, I cringed. I will say, though, that I was firmly in the camp of wanting Nita and Kit to stay friends "only," because it would make a nice change! And because they're awesome friends. But when this changed at the end of the book, I kind of gave in. Because it was so cutely done.
One other thing of note: Carmela's continued awesomeness provided much joy. I love that she's continuing to prove that no, you don't have to be a wizard to help save the world or be powerful.
One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now - Edited by Melissa Chiu, Karin Higa, and Susette S. Min. This book describes the work included in an exhibition at NYC's Asia Society in 2006. For people like me, who are not very versed in art, the background and discussion on contemporary Asian American art, including the Asian American art movement of the early '90s, was very helpful and intriguing. Frequent themes expressed in the book include the tensions around who is an Asian American artist and what counts as Asian American work: must it refer to race, to Asian-ness (& defined how?) in some way? How have opportunities for Asian American artists and artist communities changed? Must Asian American art be political? What's the utility of sweeping a wide range of cultures under the umbrella term of Asian American?
Art featured in the book that I particularly enjoyed included: Michael Arcega's El Conquistadourkes (made out of Manila folders, get it?), Chitra Ganesh's fascinating & grotesque pieces featuring women with multiple heads (including Jungle Beneath), & Jiha Moon's lush aquatic-feeling paintings (including Whirlwind Wheel).
Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress - Edited by Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich and Carla Jones. Absolutely fascinating. I've read very little about fashion, particularly non-Western, and this was a great place to start. The essays here debunk the belief among parts of academia that fashion is what the West has; the rest of the world is represented by traditional clothing, and its supposed stasis means that they don't have fashion. Also refuted is the idea of globalization as predominantly a one-way flow from the West to the passive consumers elsewhere.
Particularly of interest: Rebecca Ruhlen's piece on the renewed popularity of the traditional hanbok in Korea, and how members of Korean women's organizations will wear the hanbok when meeting donors or appearing in public, as a way to defuse hostility and show that they, despite being feminists, are also Korean. Carla Jones writes about femininity courses in Indonesia, and how upwardly-aspiring urban women there use such courses to negotiate modernity, femininity, Islam, and Indonesian culture (versus more fragmented ethnic cultures within the country). Lise Skov offers up a piece on Hong Kong fashion designers that shows how the entrance of certain designers onto the world fashion stage depends on a mediated, limited version of Chineseness--self-exotification--that they must present, to the embarrassment & frustration of other designers who don't want to work within those parameters. The article also looks at the success of Japanese designers and how their acceptance into global fashion culture also depended on exotification.
All in all, extremely interesting. I only wish there had been more pieces by people from the nations or communities being written about; I would like to hear their voices more, though I recognize that in all likelihood they would still be mediated through translation in order for me to access them.
Anyway, in this installment, Kit and some other wizards are trying to figure out what happened to previous life on Mars. Kit makes a big discovery and starts acting weird and secretive. He and Nita get tense with each other; he thinks she's hovering over everything she does; she thinks he's leaving her out. The two are teenagers now, so add to the mix perfectly believable and reasonable awkwardness about their relationship and sexuality stuff in general. Plotwise it makes perfect sense. I found a lot of it tiresome, though, and when this tension becomes central to solving the mystery of Mars, I cringed. I will say, though, that I was firmly in the camp of wanting Nita and Kit to stay friends "only," because it would make a nice change! And because they're awesome friends. But when this changed at the end of the book, I kind of gave in. Because it was so cutely done.
One other thing of note: Carmela's continued awesomeness provided much joy. I love that she's continuing to prove that no, you don't have to be a wizard to help save the world or be powerful.
One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now - Edited by Melissa Chiu, Karin Higa, and Susette S. Min. This book describes the work included in an exhibition at NYC's Asia Society in 2006. For people like me, who are not very versed in art, the background and discussion on contemporary Asian American art, including the Asian American art movement of the early '90s, was very helpful and intriguing. Frequent themes expressed in the book include the tensions around who is an Asian American artist and what counts as Asian American work: must it refer to race, to Asian-ness (& defined how?) in some way? How have opportunities for Asian American artists and artist communities changed? Must Asian American art be political? What's the utility of sweeping a wide range of cultures under the umbrella term of Asian American?
Art featured in the book that I particularly enjoyed included: Michael Arcega's El Conquistadourkes (made out of Manila folders, get it?), Chitra Ganesh's fascinating & grotesque pieces featuring women with multiple heads (including Jungle Beneath), & Jiha Moon's lush aquatic-feeling paintings (including Whirlwind Wheel).
Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress - Edited by Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich and Carla Jones. Absolutely fascinating. I've read very little about fashion, particularly non-Western, and this was a great place to start. The essays here debunk the belief among parts of academia that fashion is what the West has; the rest of the world is represented by traditional clothing, and its supposed stasis means that they don't have fashion. Also refuted is the idea of globalization as predominantly a one-way flow from the West to the passive consumers elsewhere.
Particularly of interest: Rebecca Ruhlen's piece on the renewed popularity of the traditional hanbok in Korea, and how members of Korean women's organizations will wear the hanbok when meeting donors or appearing in public, as a way to defuse hostility and show that they, despite being feminists, are also Korean. Carla Jones writes about femininity courses in Indonesia, and how upwardly-aspiring urban women there use such courses to negotiate modernity, femininity, Islam, and Indonesian culture (versus more fragmented ethnic cultures within the country). Lise Skov offers up a piece on Hong Kong fashion designers that shows how the entrance of certain designers onto the world fashion stage depends on a mediated, limited version of Chineseness--self-exotification--that they must present, to the embarrassment & frustration of other designers who don't want to work within those parameters. The article also looks at the success of Japanese designers and how their acceptance into global fashion culture also depended on exotification.
All in all, extremely interesting. I only wish there had been more pieces by people from the nations or communities being written about; I would like to hear their voices more, though I recognize that in all likelihood they would still be mediated through translation in order for me to access them.
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Date: 2010-07-12 10:59 am (UTC)