After School 課後 (WIP)
After School brings together collage, sculpture, and new and historical photographs to unpack the culture of after school tutoring centers in California. Known as 補習班 (bu xi ban) in Chinese, 학원 (hagwon) in Korean, and 塾 (juku) in Japanese, after schools are referred to colloquially as “cram schools” and by scholars as “shadow education.” Operating simultaneously as spaces of community, care, and control, these schools can be demanding and factory-like; but they also deliver essential childcare services to busy parents, many of whom are new immigrants.
As a child and young adult, I attended and worked at Futurelink School, a 補習班 and my parents’ business. Located in the San Gabriel Valley, CA, Futurelink served hundreds of primarily East Asian students, providing them with homework help and supplemental English and math lessons. Inspired by Futurelink’s vast archive of photographs, workbooks, objects, and advertisements, After School appropriates educational materials to subvert the everyday tools of discipline and assimilation, explore the role of education in Asian American enclaves, and challenge stereotypes about Asian American students. Assemblages combine Futurelink photographs with photographs of California Chinese schools during the Chinese Exclusion era to reflect on the ongoing legacies of racism, segregation, and US immigration policy within the Asian American experience.
The exhibit is based on the forthcoming np: press publication, After School. This project was made possible with the support of the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
As a child and young adult, I attended and worked at Futurelink School, a 補習班 and my parents’ business. Located in the San Gabriel Valley, CA, Futurelink served hundreds of primarily East Asian students, providing them with homework help and supplemental English and math lessons. Inspired by Futurelink’s vast archive of photographs, workbooks, objects, and advertisements, After School appropriates educational materials to subvert the everyday tools of discipline and assimilation, explore the role of education in Asian American enclaves, and challenge stereotypes about Asian American students. Assemblages combine Futurelink photographs with photographs of California Chinese schools during the Chinese Exclusion era to reflect on the ongoing legacies of racism, segregation, and US immigration policy within the Asian American experience.
The exhibit is based on the forthcoming np: press publication, After School. This project was made possible with the support of the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
