Artists Space

A New World Order III:
The Curio Shop

February 18 – April 3, 1993

A New World Order III: The Curio Shop, is a group exhibition by the Asian artists coalition Godzilla. This exhibition, which features the work of 48 artists, employs the motif of a Chinatown curio shop in order to deconstruct the mythology and expose stereotypes which form the basis for much of our society's collective attitudes toward Asian Americans.

A brochure cover for <i>The New World Order III: The Curio Shop at Artists Space</i>. There are collaged images of various photographs and restaurant marquees, and additional information about the location and time of the exhibition.
[A brochure cover for The New World Order III: The Curio Shop at Artists Space. There are collaged images of various photographs and restaurant marquees, and additional information about the location and time of the exhibition.]

What does it mean to speak of A New World Order? Godzilla delineates the models that have come to represent Asian Americans throughout history by using the motif of the curio shop. The curio shop is a site conventionally associated with Chinatown tourism, a place which disperses commodities which have come to represent the stereotypes of Asian life. The work in the exhibition addresses the intervention of the United States in Asia, the absence of Asian Americans in traditional narratives of American life, and the roles of Asian Americans as they are being constructed today.
– Godzilla

February 19, 1993

Home on De Range
Performance
7:30pm

A black and white photograph of two shelves, each with several Quaker Oats canisters and vases of assorted shapes. Beyond the shelves are several plinths housing objects, and a metal rack with dozens of glass jars.
A New World Order III: The Curio Shop. Installation view, Artists Space, 1993. [A black and white photograph of two shelves, each with several Quaker Oats canisters and vases of assorted shapes. Beyond the shelves are several plinths housing objects, and a metal rack with dozens of glass jars.]
A black and white photograph of a room filled with plinths of varying heights, several objects suspended from the ceiling, and a pile of small fans with a mess of wires sitting on the floor.
A New World Order III: The Curio Shop. Installation view, Artists Space, 1993. [A black and white photograph of a room filled with plinths of varying heights, several objects suspended from the ceiling, and a pile of small fans with a mess of wires sitting on the floor.]

Godzilla's Proposal for A New World Order

"Voice Choices." The Village Voice. Print.

    An round, orange object with protruding spikes is set inside a brown box. The box's lid is set on the black floor next to it.
    Lynn Yamamoto. [An round, orange object with protruding spikes is set inside a brown box. The box's lid is set on the black floor next to it.]