"Where candy come from?"

By Kenneth Quan & Edward Goto

Courtesy of seaweedproductions.com

As the Chinese garbed man with the long queue and thick glasses passed out candy to the perplexed audience sitting outdoors at the Water Court in Downtown LA, one could not help but wonder "What is goin' on?" After passing a sweet morsel to an unfortunate soul of his random choosing, the strange caricatured man would intensely ask in a mock Chinaman accent "You know where candy come from?" When the audience member glazed back with a deer in the headlights look as if saying "Duh, I don knoe?," the man would excitedly respond, "China!"

Enter the strange, insightful and oftentimes hysterical world of Kip Fulbeck (ne Lawrence Fulbeck). A native of Los Angeles, performance artist, professor of Art and Asian-American Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, die-hard Laker fan, and self-proclaimed uncanny likeness to a dozen Disney characters (in particular Lilo), Fulbeck works to embrace and explore not only his Chinese heritage but also a group that has yet to find a collective voice, the Hapa. As explained in the performance, the word Hapa describes those who are of partial Asian parentage. The product of an Anglo father and a Chinese mother, Fulbeck intersperses between stand-up comedy, audience interaction, and short 10 minute videos that explore the politics of bi-racial identity, interracial dating, media projected Asian male images, familial pressure one faces in light of growing up amongst over-achieving siblings, and the unusual and unique bond that only a family offers.

Courtesy of seaweedproductions.com

The best parts of Fulbeck's performance is when he utilizes his video projects. Perhaps the most entertaining video of the evening, "Some Questions for 28 Kisses" shows a collage video of well known film and television scenes of white males and Asian females in romantic dalliance. The scenes are shown out of context with the white male often caught in an awkward glance or pose that elicits comedic results. Juxtaposed against this, in large, white fonts across the screen are purposefully inflammatory and controversial questions or pronouncements such as: "Do Asian women date white men to move up the social ladder?", "Are you a Rice Chaser?", "Do you date immigrant Asian women because you can't compete here?" Add into this mix Fulbeck's use of read voice-overs from real personal ads of white males looking for Asian women and vice versa. Though the juggling of so many details at once can be overwhelming and confusing, the overall effect is satisfyingly rich and witty.

Another video entitled "L.A. Christmas," works on another level. Shot entirely cinema-verite style in grainy black and white on a Fisher-Price Pixelvision, Fulbeck captures his quirky yet tight Covina family during Christmas 1996. Fulbeck admitted that the video footage would neither have been interesting enough nor complete were it not for the overlaid audio track of himself and his mother, Lily, talking and commenting upon it in a studio. One of the funniest exchanges occurs over footage of Fulbeck's father opening his gifts while in the voice-over, Fulbeck asks his mother whether she had gotten his father anything. This solicits a hilarious admission from her that she didn't physically give him a suit but that "the money was in the bank" for him to buy it for himself. This eventuates into a side-splitting discussion where Lily tediously grills her son's reasoning in buying expensive suits.

In contrast, there are parts of Fulbeck's performance that seem to drag. One cannot help but feel a bit lost and detached in moments when he tries to relate to the audience his mixed heritage. In fear of sounding heartless, one must wonder how his experience as a Hapa has been so different from that of other ethnic groups? As an Asian-American male, I wasn't exactly quite sure how the discrimination Hapas face is so unique. Although he may be one of the "premier" performance artists willing to explore his biracial identity, one would hope that at his age of 38, he's finally been able to come to terms with it. You just wanna feel like saying "Dude get over it!"

Courtesy of seaweedproductions.com

Fulbeck doesn't work when he tries to PC preach - which in this day and age has become boring and redundant. When one hears comments like "I think the world would be a much better place if women were running it," you just can't help but roll your eyes. You just feel like you're sitting in on one of his university lectures that he gives in his classroom. And when he does get into this mode, the performance begins to clunker.

He unfortunately does this at a part of his performance that would have worked had he allowed it to speak for itself. He reveals his current book project simply called "The Hapa Project." The project's existence is owed to what Fulbeck explains as "the book I wish I had when I was growing up." He incorporates this work into his performance by projecting the mug shots of both young and old Hapas. Immediately following are responses to one question "What are you?"

Fulbeck claims that he gives no direction to his participants in how to answer this emotionally and politically loaded query. That in turn brings about retorts that run the gamut from melancholy to comic, and from succinct to verbose - but always remarkably poignant. Some of the most emotionally raw responses come from young interviewees whom unfortunately are continuously bombarded by insensitive questions and disparaging remarks from their schoolmates. One of the more memorable responses comes from a little boy who writes "I have no friends."

Unfortunately, what makes this a mixed result is when Fulbeck makes comments to compel the audience to feel sad or reflective rather than allow them to come to it on their own. Why is there a need to drive the point home when some of the answers work so well without commentary? Fulbeck says many times over in the performance, "I'm a good writer, but I'm not that good - I don't make this stuff up. I can't!" Well then please let it speak for itself.

Factoids:
	Fulbeck has a brother who is a doctor and 3 cousins who are a chiropractor, a cardiologist, and a pharmacist. One of Fulbeck's cousins passed the SAT with a score of 1350 at the age of 13. As Fulbeck exclaims "Why he took it, I don't know - the kid doesn't even have armpit hair!" Fulbeck jokingly refers his real job as that of a Junior Life Guard during his off time from teaching at UCSB.

Although the performance seemed forced at times, the Kip Fulbeck experience was an entertaining multimedia performance that dares and challenges, albeit not always successful, the pertinent issues of an ever evolving American social and cultural landscape. The audience is left with much to think about regarding our own perceptions of Hapa and Asian people. In particular, how media insidiously and sometimes blatantly bombard us with ideas and images that reinforce negative stereotypes. And while one may be incensed or nod in agreement to Fulbeck's cultural perspectives and commentary, one can be assured of a singular thing - you'll be thinking long after you leave.

For further information on Kip Fulbeck and his various projects, please visit: www.seaweedproductions.com.

August 29, 2003