Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists, Essay Example

America as a country is comprised of different cultures due to the high number of immigrants present in the country.  The immigrants were recognized, and America advocated for retention and protection of the diverse cultural values present within its territories.  What is indispensable to record is that with each new immigrant group comes a new culture, and the society tries very hard to integrate the existing cultures.  Integration was defined by the immigrants desire to retain their culture and their desire for intergroup culture that was necessitated by adopting other cultures.

Sung Ho Choi- Korean America Artist

Cultural diversity is a term that has been used to refer to the quality of different or diverse cultures; and the use of the term implies opposition to monoculture and cultural homogenization, which have been considered as indicators of cultural decay (UNESCO, 2007).  The term cultural diversity can also used about having; different cultures tolerate and respect each other and their differences.  The term has also been utilized to refer to the variety in culture in particularregions, or in the entire world (UNESCO, 2007).  In this paper, the struggles of immigrants in the United States as explored by Sung Ho Choi as they try to assimilate into a diverse cultural society.

Sung Ho Choi

Sung Ho Choi was a bicultural American of Asian and Korean descent. In his artistic themes, he expresses how his minority status in the American society evolved in his assimilation into the culture of the United States. In his artistic themes, he explores the subject of the struggles of immigrants in the American society. He examines intercultural interaction, and the experiences the minority undergoes in the process of their interaction with various cultures.  His artwork seeks to formulate the patterns of interaction among diverse cultures, and to discover suggesting systems within the multicultural setup.  He expresses the Korean American experiences in the United States through combination rice clippings from the American and Korean newspapers, suitcases, and the American flag (Kwak & Berry, 2001). Choi migrated to America after the Korean War, with the hopes of acquiring graduate work in New York.  He later came to realize that the hopes he had in achieving his dreams in line with the American dreams were short-lived as it was not easy for Korean immigrants to achieve such dreams (Hallmark 32).  Through his experiences in the multicultural settings, he directed his frustrations into his artworks named mixed media installations.

In his artwork, American Dream (1988-1992), Choi came up with a facility, which comprised of wood, glass jars, a suitcase, acrylic, and newspaper.  This artwork represented the thwarted dreams of the fresh Korean immigrants in the United States.  This artwork had a restructured American flag poised on a wall.  This flag took the shape of a dartboard, with the bull’s eye merging the circling stripes of the American flag.  This was a manifestation of the American Dream. The artworks on the flag also manifested the struggles the Koreans underwent.  This was through the inclusion of the Korean newspaper strips revealing the headlines of the Korean struggles.  The artwork also displayed Choi’s migration into the United States through the suitcase.  The suitcase inscription into his artwork represented his absorption into the American Culture as he continuously filled the glass jars in his suitcase with the New York Times’ clippings, after he ate all the native food, Kimchi, he carried from Korea (Hallmark, 2001).

In his works as a bicultural artist in America, Choi expressed the feelings he underwent as a minority in the American society.  In his perspective as a Korean American artist, Choi showed how his immigrant experiences in the United States influenced his artistic themes as well as a medium. He emphasized multiculturalism in is his creative works (Hallmark, 2001).  He expressed how diverse cultures conflict, crush, destroy, and heal one another as they interact.  In his e-mail correspondence, Choi says, “My goal is to pursue the theme of contrasting identities in a society that is becoming more multi-cultural, and how to define this in universal terms,” (Choi e-mail correspondent).

Choi is renowned for his major artworks, My America (1996), and the American Pie (1996).  These artworks presented reflections by Choi on the American culture.  Choi’s artwork, My America (1996) involved 65 tiles that form a jigsaw. The puzzle constitutes the shape of the United States, with the US flag in the background. The history of the United States encrypts in the artwork by the tiles. In his artwork, American Pie, the multiculturalism in the United States depicts the representation of the spoken languages in the United States in the form of an apple pie. The American Pie also manifests the frustration faced by the immigrants into the US, contrary to their earlier belief that the US was a productiveland that would provide the immigrants with diverse opportunities.  In his recent artistic works, Choi employs traditional Chinese symbols that characterize the heart or the mind.  These decorative themes focus on the dynamic nature of human mind that keep changing to fit diverse styles, expressions and materials (Hallmark, 2001).

All immigrants have been subjected to some level of discrimination by the native dwellers of America due to their fear of losing their employment to the influx of able-bodied labor force. The immigrants are willing to work at lesser prices, but provide the same services as the American natives. The Asians though in the past years have received an extra dose of discriminatory acts due to the society’s perception of their link to the terror attacks that are rocking the world. This mindset and understanding makes it very hard for the Korean immigrants to integrate with the new society as efficient and effectively as they would like. In some cases, they are not even given the chance to do that

The level of integration and the efficiency with which it has been carried out can be evaluated by the levels of participation in the economic, political and social environment. The Korean immigrants are wearier, reserved, and very protective of their culture, and this means that the opportunities they are exposed to are also limited in nature (Magocsi, 1999).

The society should respond positively to the idea of cultural diversity because of its rich diversity, culture bears an innate value for development and social cohesion as well as peace from a global context. Cultural diversity has been cited as one of the main driving forces for development not only from an economic perspective, but also as a way of living a life that enriches morally, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually(UNESCO, 2007). This view is expressed in the seven cultural Conventions that have been held by UNESCO, with the last one being held in 2001. Cultural diversity is an asset that cannot be ignored in the process of reducing poverty and attaining sustainable development (UNESCO, 2007). Moreover, recognizing and accepting cultural diversity through modern technologies like the ICT has been cited as providing a conducive environment for dialogue among different cultures and civilizations. This promotes mutual understanding and respect (Parvis, 2007).

Cultural diversity and the knowledge of other cultures should be promoted because it is crucial for economic and social development.  Cultural diversity fosters the understanding of other cultures, which brings different cultural groups together in solving some of the challenges that face the world today.  Cultural differences and the exposure to other cultures are seen to have influenced the immigrants’ level of integration into the American society.  The Korean immigrants are very rigid and do not want to adopt any new culture.  For integration to be useful, some level of compromise must be met. This is what hinders their integration process.

References

Choi, Song-ho. (July 2006). E-mail correspondence with the author.

Hallmark, K. K. (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. Wesport (Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Kwak, K. & Berry, J. (2001). “Generational Differences In Acculturation Among Asian Families In Canada: A Comparison Of Vietnamese, Korean, And East-Indian Groups.” International Journal of Psychology 36(3), 152-162.

Magocsi, P. R. (1999). Encyclopedia of Canada’s peoples. Toronto: Published for the Multicultural History Society of Ontario by University of Toronto Press.

Parvis, L. (2007). Understanding cultural diversity in today’s complex world. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Press.

UNESCO. (2007). Cultural Diversity.