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Janice Tanaka

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Janice tanaka


Janice Tanaka is a Japanese American media artist born in Hollywood, California known for making video collages. She received her B.F.A. (1978) and M.F.A. (1980) from the Art Institute of Chicago.

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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.

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. From 1996 on she has held her current position at the California Institute of the Arts.

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."

Janice tanaka


Early life

Her parents Jack Koto Tanaka and Lily Tanaka were married right before World War II. During the war, the family, including her brother Jack Jr, were relocated to the Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp. 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.

Select videography

Here are some highlights from Tanaka's work:

  • 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.

  • Kröller-Müller Museum
  • Carnegie Museum of Art
  • The Getty
  • The Japanese American National Museum California
  • The Institute of Kino Engineers (St. Petersburg, Russia)
  • National Library of Australia
  • The New York Public Library
  • The University of Southern California
  • University of California Los Angeles
  • New York University
  • University of Chicago.

    • Awards

    Tanaka has received many awards.

  • 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

    Janice Tanaka Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA