Envisioning Asia: On Location, Travel, and the Cinematic Geography of U.S. Orientalism
University of Michigan Press, 2010
Hardcover, 278 pages, $70

Jeanette Roan, faculty member in Visual and Critical Studies, examines the moment in which the birth of cinema coincided with the beginnings of U.S. expansion overseas. Throughout this period, she proposes, the cinema's function as a form of virtual travel, coupled with its purported "authenticity," served to advance America's shifting interests in Asia. Its ability to fulfill this imperial role depended, however, not only on the cinematic representations themselves but also on the marketing of the films' production histories and, in particular, their use of Asian locations.

Also, by focusing on the material practices involved in shooting films on location—the actual travels, negotiations, and labor of filmmaking—Roan moves beyond formal analysis to produce a richly detailed history of American interests, attitudes, and cultural practices during the first half of the 20th century.

California College of the Arts prides itself in the myriad forms of artistic expression that can be witnessed on any given day at either the Oakland or San Francisco campuses. One such form of visual art is performance art, which offers a dynamic means of expression, one that often has at its core a political statement or reaction.

Whoa! This is last year's event. You probably want the 2012 event, right? Let me take you there now »

CCA at CAA

Please join California College of the Arts at the College Art Association’s 99th annual conference in New York February 9–12. CCA Faculty and alumni will be participating in various panel discussions throughout the conference (see events below).

Brion Nuda Rosch
Little Paper Planes, 2010
Paperback, 90 pages, $24

Kelly Lynn Jones (MFA 2010, Painting/Drawing 2002), owner of the online artist store Little Paper Planes (which carries work by many CCA artists!), offers this survey of the San Francisco artist Brion Nuda Rosch as her first publishing venture. Foreword by Zachary Royer Scholz (MFA 2006, MA Visual and Critical Studies 2009).