American Boy: Immigration, Tutorials, a Loop of Play
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2020-01-01
Type of Work
Department
Visual Arts
Program
Imaging and Digital Arts
Citation of Original Publication
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Access limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan through a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Abstract
American Boy is a three-piece installation about forging an American identity through play, technology, and Internet tutorials. Through interaction and touch, participants unearth the protagonist's sometimes comedic narrative. The piece playground features an old wooden desk and early-2000s desktop computer. Scattered on the desk and in drawers are evocative objects – books, toys, a talking fish – that invite play and reveal the arduous process of immigration/integration. In Tutorails with Max! participants occupy the chair of protagonist Max and witness the results of his attempt to become American: self-made video tutorials on topics ranging from how to become American to how to get your classmates to like you. the thing behind me is a door figuratively and literally blockading the external world. Sounds from outside nonetheless penetrate the door, threatening the safety of Max's sanctuary. Together, the three pieces address the reality-shifting reorientation of identity accompanying immigration, and the protagonist's continuous process of American cultural integration.