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Janice Tanaka

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Janice Tanaka is a Japanese American media artist born in Hollywood, California[1] known for making video collages. She received her B.F.A. (1978) and M.F.A. (1980) from the Art Institute of Chicago.[2] She began her artistic career as a dancer before shifting her focus to film and documentaries. She is best known for Rebel with a Cause which chronicles the life of activist Akio Herzig Yoshinaga who fought for redress of wrongs done to Japanese-Americans interned in camps during World War II.[3] Tanaka's own parents spent time in the camps.

Career

Tanaka started her career as a ballet dancer with the Allegro American Ballet in 1955. In 1957 she performed with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. From 1960 to 1961 she was with the Jim Hetzer's Japanese Spectacular. Her last foray in dancing was with the Conservatorio International de Musica from 1961 to 1964.[2]

Tanaka has taught at universities around the country. After receiving her graduate degree she headed to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1980. From 1982 to 1985 she was at the Columbia College Chicago. Next she moved to the University of Colorado in Boulder from 1985 to 1989. After spending 1990 to 1994 at UCLA, she briefly left academia to work at Sonic Boom, Inc. until 1996.[2] From 1996 on she has held her current position at the California Institute of the Arts.[4]

K.K. Hallmark describes her work as, "Tanaka's videos are documentary in style, using a variety of techniques; some images are abstract, distorted, and blurred to an unrecognizable degree, while others are clear and informal, as if they could be a family snapshot."[2]

Early life

Her parents Jack Koto Tanaka and Lily Tanaka were married right before World War II.[5] During the war, the family, including her brother Jack Jr, were relocated to the Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp.[6] Her father protested the internment, and was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After being diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was institutionalized. Lily divorced Jack during the war, and moved the family to a predominantly white neighborhood in Chicago.[6]

Select videography

Here are some highlights from Tanaka's work:[1]

  • Swimming in Air, 2006, 28:10 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • No Hop Sing, No Bruce Lee; What do you do when none of your heroes look like you?, 1998, 31:56 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • Who's Going to Pay for These Donuts Anyway?, 1992, 58:30 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • Memories From the Department of Amnesia, 1990, 12:50 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, 1989, 17:50 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • Grass or When the Rain Falls on the Water Does The Fish Get Any Wetter?, 1985, 05:30 minutes, color, English
  • Superhuman Flights of Submoronic Fancies, 1982, 11:00 minutes, color, English
  • Ontogenesis, 1981, 05:30 minutes, color/B&W, English
  • A True-Life Adventure in Beaver Valley, 1980, 05:30 minutes, color/B&W, English

Permanent collections

Tanaka has pieces in the collections of many museums and libraries.[4]

Awards

Tanaka has received many awards.[4]

  • The American Film Institute Media Award
  • The National Endowment for the Arts Media Award
  • The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Broadcasting Systems Media Awards
  • Rockefeller Foundation Media Fellowship (1991 and 2003)

References

  1. ^ a b "Artist: Janice Tanaka". V Page.
  2. ^ a b c d Hallmark, Kelly (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 219–223. ISBN 978-0-313-33451-1.
  3. ^ "A Rebel Remembered". www.rafu.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  4. ^ a b c Tanaka, Janice. "CalArts Faculty/Staff Directory".
  5. ^ Pang, Amy (18 June 1993). "Janice Tanaka Finds the Present by Tracing Her Father's Past: `Who's Going to Pay for these Donuts, Anyway?' Debuts June 22". Asianweek. 32.
  6. ^ a b King, Susan (20 June 1993). "Focus Closing Her Circle Daughter Finds a Father Lost During the '40s Internment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  • Archive Grid (Tanaka's works held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies).
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