Harry Yechan Lee

개 / Dog

            Coyote Fur Coat, Caucasian Silicone Mask
                           
  

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The title of the series: 모(毛)양반 - Mo Yang-Ban hich directly translates in to “Hairy Aristocrat”. 모양반- The Hairy Aristocrat was a character that reappeared throughout Korean traditional mask dance dramas (Talchum, 탈춤) such as 동래야류 (Dongrae-Yaryu) and 수영야류 (Suyoung-Yaryu) started in the Joseon Dynasty. Historically, this 모양반 (The Hairy Aristocrat) character was used by the “common” people and the performers of the drama to make fun of the ruling class by using this “in-between” character - the lore of the mongrel, begins with an assumption that this being is a hybrid born of an aristocrat(Yang-ban, 양반) and a beast, such as a dog or monkey.

This Korean historical character, in this contemporary iteration and as an (North) American iteration, has been reimagined and recontextualized as to what it means to exist in a contemporary Asian American experience. The “Model Minority” label that has been put on to Asian Americans, and the mongrel that is created from it. Asian Americans becomes the obedient pet which are characterized by being praised for ability to adapt and be part of a “white” system that was built on violence and erasure. This leash is invisible, yet it is always there, a reminder that we are not fully accepted by other minorities and caucasians who have “gifted” us the model minority status.