#techno orientalism

[theburialofstrawberries]

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fun reading of Ex Machina (2015) through the framework of techo-orientalism, by Danielle Wong

[borriiiicha]

CURRENTLY ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR NEW ZINE: The Asian Cyborg And Other Othered Bodies

I’m so excited to announce that we are currently taking submissions for our new zine: “The Asian Cyborg and Other Othered Bodies”! This zine will explore the themes of technology, sci-fi, race, and queerness. Who are the othered bodies in SF? What does it mean to be “othered” as in to be queer? What are the queer futures of the past? What are the queer futures being imagined for us now? And is queerness inherently tied to the bodily experience?

We are accepting art and literary submissions from all around the world, but any text submissions not in English must be accompanied by an English translation. Any kind of submission is eligible: illustrations, paintings, comics, photography, poetry, prose, essays, even memes. Deadline for submissions is 08/31 at 11:59 PM EST. Google form link in bio.

All contributors will receive a free copy of the zine (either digital or physical) when completed as well as a small honorarium ($ compensation for their submission). Note that submitting an application is not guaranteed entry into the zine. We will notify you if your piece was selected via email.

So grateful and excited to have to the guest artists & writers I’ve reached out to join me in the creation of this zine — please check them out! (second slide)

NOTE: This zine focuses on race and queerness' relationship to the human body and technology. Therefore, we are not at this time accepting submissions from any persons who do not belong to either group of marginalized identity.

[mochihanfu]

I want to do a futuristic hanfu look like this but I'm scared that people will come for me for techno orientalism 😅 I know most people won't think that but you'd be surprised by how much people reach on tiktok lol. Anyways, I'm not sure how to go about it in a meaningful and educational way. Post from @hanfu-fuxindi and @ziseviolet sorry i took a screenshot so i could reference it later lol

[therewasabrowncrow]

Ex machina, Ava. Comps and Gelli plate made with plastic money, fruit net, paper cut outs

I have been meaning to make a gelli animation fanart on Exmachina for a while. It has become one of my favourite only because there are some really great crits around the film. It’s one of those films where the director’s bias becomes the main character once you de-center Ava and focus on Kyoko and the other bots left as body parts throughout the lab

I would suggest reading Daniella Wong’s essay:  Dismembered Asian/American Android Parts in Ex Machina as ‘Inorganic’ Critique which focuses on techno orientalism and post-human identity in context to Asian American relationship

I found the film relevant when I was trying to understand Open Ai and its learning models especially Midjourney etc- and this foolish idea that Ai is sentient and creative. It was recently uncovered that Chat GPT was outsourcing their moderation to Kenyan workers via a third party company Samasource. Just like Kyoko they end up doing bulk of the work without proper compensation and protection while Ava (The Ai) is seen as creating beautiful images and spouting philosophy.

I will post the animation soon!

[halmoney]

It is so crazy that techno-orientalism is such a HUGE phenomenon but it’s talked about so little. There are so few studies on it, so few papers that talk go so far as to even mention it, so few resources. Maybe there are more that talk about the phenomenon or similar but don’t use the exact word, since I think it only became coined in the 80s(?) if I’m remembering correctly — but it definitely existed as a phenomenon before then. so much of yellow peril and orientalist history is tied to technology and weapons of war, of how technology is used to demonize and dehumanize Asian peoples. Movies like Blade Runner or Big Hero 6 will show glowing cities of an Asianized future, cities that resemble Shanghai or Tokyo.. or take Dune, for instance, an orientalist depiction of Arabic culture at its finest. and this is a common trope in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres: the future or fantasy realm is Asian. What’s crazy to me is that the juxtaposition of technology against the Asian peoples within these works of fiction versus the real world. Like... the ways in which Asia, mainly China or Japan, are seen as possessing skillful technologies that may propel them into the future is a direct correlation to the threat they pose to western dominance. Robots often depicted in films are given certain Asiatic features — “porcelain” skin, slender eyes, slender bodies, etc. and how does that correlate to the stereotype of East Asian people as robotic, and lacking any human feelings or emotion? And how does that tie into the West’s perception of Asian people as excelling “unnaturally” well in math or science? Really fucked up when you consider a lot of these countries’ extremely complicated history with technology and weapons of war.... Japan for example or the MENA region :/

[commajade]

my friend reposted this on insta and i'm just posting it here so i can look at it again later

[vomiitgiirl]

the "colored-hair streak on asian women is bad" discourse is watered down techno orientalism and takes away from actual discrimination asian women face i.e. white women co-opting asian aesthetics

[y2k-2day]

This was the video where Madonna started doing that mystical hand thing that is a bit iffy

And she’s on a futuristic film set where Japanese ppl are enchanted by her cos she’s white and so enchanting with her edgy androgynous hair

And she’s like too much for even their futuristic technology, which is MS Paint in 1993.

Also noteworthy: Skechers

Madonna - Rain (1993)