Asian Studies 2018

Last week in my Modern Times class, which is facilitated by Dr. Cole we watched a film called Civilizations.  The reason I bring up this film is because towards the end there was an artist by the name of Cai Guo-Qiang, who is a Chinese artist who currently lives and works in New York City and New Jersey. Cai Guo-Qiang was exposed early on to western literature as well as traditional Chinese art forms due to his father Cai Ruiqin who was a calligrapher and traditional painter who worked in a bookstore. He grew up in a setting where explosions were common, whether they were the result of cannon blasts or celebratory fireworks. He also saw gunpowder used in both good and bad ways, in destruction and reconstruction. Cai channeled his experiences and memories through his numerous gunpowder drawings and explosion events.  Much of Cai’s works draws on Maoist/Socialist concepts for content, especially his gunpowder drawings, which strongly reflect Mao Zedong’s tenet ...

I had the opportunity to interview one of my best friend’s for this week’s blog post who gave me insight on a trip she took to Thailand with her longtime boyfriend last October. During her trip, she went to an Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is about a 1.5 hour drive away. She met about seven female elephants and one baby male elephant. Since it is a sanctuary you are not allowed to ride the elephants because it is seen as a form of animal cruelty. During their time there they were able to feed the elephants sugar cane, bananas and bamboo.   My friend Jasmine described the elephants as being super friendly and playful. After feeding them, they were given the chance to give the elephants a mud bath, which was intimidating due to their size but in the end they went into the river with them to wash off the mud. The elephants seem very relaxed after their mud bath. Fun fact: after elephants eat it stays in their stomach for about an hour and a half befor...