Sokhun Keo BFA Thesis Spring 2011

AI BUH LEEV EN YU / I BELIEVE IN YOU

AI BUH LEEV EN YU/I BELIEVE IN YOU is an attempt to dissolve the objects, the idea, and the language of culture. By dissolving these things, we can gain a solution to questions of culture. Through an installation based on my experience with Cambodian-American dance spaces, the work questions the possibility of authenticity in hybrid cultures. In the installation, I am making a culture based on two existing ideas of culture—Cambodian and American—but I argue that when these two cultures meld together, the result isn’t Cambodian-American culture, because it is neither authentically Cambodian nor authentically American. The result is a hybrid culture. Hybrids cannot be authentic to any one thing.

The culture of the installation is a simulation of my culture (a hybrid culture.) I want the viewer to believe that they are experiencing “authentic Cambodian-American culture,” but then to realize that because all the objects are counterfeits, that idea of culture doesn’t exist. The audience is actually experiencing my culture in the installation, but it is not “Cambodian-American culture.” My culture is real and authentic to myself and others, but it is not authentic to “Cambodian-American culture.” However, the culture the installation creates is a real culture, even if it not authentic. A culture is real because we experience it as real.

Kristin Smallwood BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Asha Whittle BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Chase Velarde BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Brian Visser BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jon Werrin BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Sivonna West BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Kristen Wright BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Leo Zarosinski BFA Thesis Spring 2011

David Boekelheide ACD MFA Capstone Spring 2011

Michael O'Malley BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Sokhun Keo BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Matthew Philip Williams ACD MFA Capstone Spring 2011

Devin Trainer BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Samantha Almanza BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Shevawn Armstrong BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Eva Ashford BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Beth Austin BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jeffrey Baratta BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Amanda Belmont BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Karen Berger BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Chris Bodven BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Cassandra Boggio BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Phillip Bone BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Janessa Bork BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Alison Brockel BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Brennan Broome BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Heather Chase BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Katie Clayton BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Samala Coffey BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Madeline Conn BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Nicole Marie Cuvin BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Dominic De Venuta BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Kevin Graham Schmidt BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Ray Anthony Barrett VS MFA Thesis 2011

Daniel Glendening VS MFA Thesis 2011

Bryson Hansen VS MFA Thesis 2011

Carl Klimt VS MFA Thesis 2011

Elizabeth Malaska VS MFA Thesis 2011

Tyler Stuart VS MFA Thesis 2011

Michael Welsh VS MFA Thesis 2011

Laura Allcorn ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Rachel Cox ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Anne Crumpacker ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Nico Sea BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Trillian Spencer BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Melissa Larsen BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Ali Leeds BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Justin Lefor BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Natalie Lomeli BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Israel Lund BFA Thesis Spring 2011

London Lunoux BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Nelleke Mack BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Leah Marvin BFA Thesis Spring 2011

William Matheny BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Kevin McLain BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Andrew Meeker BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Lo Miller BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Robin Milliken BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Brandon Phuong BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Antonia Pinter BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Kyle Raquipiso BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Portia Roy BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Selja Ojanne ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Julie Pointer ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Leslie Vigeant ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Paty Elguera BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Frances Embick BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Eartha Forest BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Danny Frazier BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jung Le Han BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Val Dean Hardy BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jennifer Hayes BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Rachel Haywood BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Morgaine Hendricks-Casey BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jim Hill BFA Thesis Spring 2011

James Jigarjian BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Leah Kiczula BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Chris Kim BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Tabitha Knight BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Chloe Steinhoff-Smith BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Cassandra Stemler BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Ali Gradischer ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Evan Holt ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Chelsey Thornton BFA Thesis Spring 2011

J. Eric Morales ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011

Amanda Townsend BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Morgan Ritter BFA Thesis Spring 2011

Jason Lee Starin ACD MFA Practicum Spring 2011