ONE FAMILY

PART THREE

The Technology, The Artists, The Launch

A personal journey through the development of San Francisco’s Bruce Lee exhibit. Read Part One HERE.

By Janice Lee, shades Magazine

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“Don’t think. Feel.”
– Bruce Lee

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
– Albert Einstein

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The Technology

Although immersive exhibitions are in abundance today with the popularity of the Van Gogh varieties and Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors, this type of experience was limited in the U.S. in early 2020 at the time we were developing the “We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family” exhibition. In San Francisco, innovative artist collaboratives were experimenting with the intersection of light, art and sound using technology. 

To explore how we might incorporate technology into the Bruce Lee exhibit, I brought on another Gen Xer, Anthony Tsai, to join our team during June 2020. A former software engineer with an MBA from a Top 10 American business school and global corporate career, he started his adult life the way many immigrant parents from Taiwan wish for their children. Then, he went in search of new paths that didn’t tie him to a keyboard and monitor. He and I used to work together at a nonprofit where he taught environmental sustainability to small businesses and corporations. He had a sense of adventure and curiosity about the world, which ranged from saving the planet to riding in a blimp to studying how people from diverse backgrounds interact with one another. 

The mention of Bruce Lee’s name struck a chord with Anthony. He had taken time off from work to care for his two children and elders in his extended family, supporting his wife in her career as an electrical engineer working on semiconductors in Silicon Valley. Their whole family epitomizes the target audience of our exhibit. 

At our meetings with exhibition project lead Jane Chin, myself as project director, creative director Chris Fong, editorial director Tom Lee and digital strategy director Anthony Tsai, our earliest discussions surrounded how to bring Bruce Lee to life. Could we have an actual-size moving image? Should we recreate him? How do we have visitors experience his energy?

I recall the excitement of the initial brainstorming and some ideas involving technology:

• A life-size hologram to recreate Bruce Lee
• Projecting clouds on the vaulted ceiling for the Under the Sky theme
• Projecting a film of a waterfall to highlight his famous “Be Water” quote about adapting to circumstances as they arise
• Projecting a mischievous moving image of Bruce Lee on the stairwell to entice visitors to continue the exhibit downstairs
• A One-Inch Punch machine to test your force and speed against Bruce Lee’s
• A selfie photo machine that would allow visitors to put themselves in action shots and add labels to fight racism and social injustices
• A walk-in octagonal room (proposed by architect Wayne Barcelon) with Muybridge-like motion picture images of Bruce Lee

Every idea was a good one worth considering. Until it wasn’t. I wanted state-of-the-art technology to showcase what was being developed in the Bay Area. Anthony explained that anything that looked to me like it was new technology was already at least 20 years old. And the deeper we all went into the details, the more the technology was starting to sound like a string of gimmicks. 

Anthony ran budgets including equipment, maintenance and staffing. Our team eliminated ideas that went sideways, didn’t support the storytelling, were not an aesthetic fit or were just too logistically challenging. CHSA’s staff director Pam Wong reminded us of the museum’s COVID-19 protocols: No touching panels, must have social distancing space. And the issues of visitors hurting themselves or physically damaging equipment had us nix more ideas. Bruce’s daughter, Shannon Lee, was patient with our evolving proposals. 

We continually asked ourselves: How can we use our storyline to create an awesome immersive experience to engage visitors about race and culture? 

Enter Carolyn Kuali’i of Kua`aina Associates in the fall of 2020. At the invitation of her husband Chicano muralist Emmanuel Montoya, Wayne attended the opening of her 2019 exhibition curated for the San Francisco Arts Commission, “The Continuous Thread: Celebrating Our Interwoven Histories, Identities and Contributions.” The exhibit and event beautifully showed the humanity and dignity of Bay Area Indigenous tribes. If anyone wants to know how storytelling is done, turn to Indigenous communities. 

Carolyn is a master at understanding how to show (not just tell) a story to modern audiences. Her appreciation of visuals, light, space and audience participation is remarkable, which is why she is called upon as an adviser and curator throughout the Bay Area where she lives and in Hawai’i, the land of her ancestors. I remember one meeting where she heard our elaborate Bruce Lee exhibit details about displays and foot traffic. She simply commented, “Don’t forget you’re telling the story of Chinese Americans.”

One feature of her Continuous Thread exhibit made a big impression on Wayne. Visitors would go into a room where words were projected on the floor, which looked like titles of members from different tribes. When someone stepped into the room, the lighted words would project onto the wall and change with their body movement. Visitors would flap their arms like a bird and read what their movements were projecting. Aside from this being a technical wonder with simple beauty, it allowed visitors to read and find the connections with the exhibition topic. 

Carolyn introduced us to Macro Waves, the Bay Area artist collective that designed this feature. The use of technology would be the key to creating the feeling of Bruce Lee as an innovator. 

The Artists

My participation with the creation of the exhibit was always about more than showcasing the iconic martial artist movie star hero who saved our community 50 years ago. How could we emotionally and intellectually stimulate visitors so that they walk away from the exhibit feeling ready to find themselves, think outside the box and take personal action for the world around them?

I was determined for the exhibit to create a vibe as cool as Bruce Lee. He did everything with flair. How do we convey his existence in creative, energetic and modern ways, while telling the history of Chinese Americans? 

No one can do this better than the artist community. 

I grew up in a family where listening to music – American pop and Chinese folk, opera and covers of Western pop – set the mood for everything. For most of my adult life, I have enjoyed live performances in rock, new wave, jazz, folk and country. At the start of the pandemic shutdowns in March 2020, I started to explore K-pop and Hip Hop, fascinated by the different cultural expressions that drew fans worldwide and moved them to express themselves. The style and quick choreography of BTS reminded me of Bruce Lee. I heard perfection in the East-West music poetry of RZA’s “Be Like Water” track, which dropped June 2020 as Bao Nguyen’s “Be Water” documentary was premiering on ESPN. I wanted original local urban music to permeate the Bruce Lee exhibit from the entry to the final message at the exit. 

The bottom floor of the museum had been used as a library and education center by the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA), so using the space for anything other than that purpose was a hard sell. I envisioned people leaving the main exhibition space, moving into an immersive experience in a gallery, then going downstairs to a vibrant environment with music and activities embracing movement for people in their 20s and 30s. I dubbed it Bruce Lee Underground before I knew what we might do with the space. 

While this idea got the thumbs up from experiential exhibit consultants Linda Cheu and Matt Solari, there was silence by the exhibit team and museum staff who thought it sounded too much like a nightclub. I knew that artists could better reshape how we could use the space. 

For months, I had been telling the team that I wanted to bring onto the project Melonie and Melorra Green, twin sisters who I have known for more than 10 years from their work supporting Bay Area independent artists. I feared they would not be available and later learned how tough it had been at the start of the pandemic when they, as the Executive Directors of the African American Art & Culture Complex, had to close the center for health safety while dealing with the outpour of Black Lives Matter responses after the killing of George Floyd. They were simultaneously trying to staff up, managing a new grant program for Black creatives and operating an outdoor gallery for muralists, public forums and memorial services to honor the many community members whose lives were lost during that period. 

By September 2020, Jane shared with me that a private donor had pledged major support so we must deliver more than a good story and display of memorabilia. We needed an awesome experience. I called Melonie to explain what we had been doing and what areas we needed help with, particularly how to incorporate artists and to refine the Unifier persona where Bruce Lee worked with Black actors and students. I was overwhelmed by her generous offer of their personal time to partner with us. Publicly, I have heard them say they wanted to participate out of our friendship. But this partnership really should be recognized as a significant act of solidarity initiated by them. They deeply felt the Asian community’s pain from the surge of brutal attacks on the elderly presumably blamed for the spread of COVID. 

Raised in Memphis, Melonie and Melorra relocated to San Francisco to study film, settling in the Fillmore Western Addition where I originally met them as aspiring young entrepreneurs. Their flair for fashion made them stand out. Their human compassion made everyone want to work with them. One of their early signature projects was creating citywide workshops and showcase opportunities for independent artists. At one time, they had a small gallery on Fillmore Street where everyone in the community stopped by to check in with one another much like a Black barbershop, only with more women and the occasional DJ and artists creating and selling their art. 

The Twins (as they are known around the city) profoundly understand how to build relationships and trust. And they know exactly what to say and not say at the right time. 

Working with another culture and sharing leadership is equally educational and empowering. You learn more about yourself than anything you could discover from a self-help book. Since the late ’80s when I began my professional career with nonprofits, I have worked with culturally diverse groups throughout San Francisco’s neighborhoods. With the Black community, I have collaborated on responses to anti-Asian violence after the beating death of Vincent Chin; interviewed youth and families in San Francisco’s Bayview and West Oakland; and organized business development programs in the Fillmore. But during the development of this exhibit with the Twins, I got a big cultural education and learned how to look at things differently, shift gears and be generous. 

The Twins understood my desire to create opportunities for diverse People of Color, not just Chinese and Black Americans. Their first recommendation was to reach out to Twin Walls Mural Company. They said they couldn’t even imagine a major artistic project about Bruce Lee in San Francisco without their participation. Knowing that I wanted music to play an essential role in the exhibit, they connected us to Bay Area music composers Mike & Dee.

Wayne and Chris advised that the Yick Gallery, a space at the end of the main exhibition hall, showcase the immersive feature to draw people toward it. If CHSA wanted a blockbuster exhibition, we needed MOMA-quality art and a budget to match. 

The Twin Walls duo are San Francisco natives Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong who have been making art together since high school and commissioned for works on display throughout the city for two decades. By the time we contacted them, they had just completed their “Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams” mural for SFMOMA, which continues to be on exhibition there today. They were passionate about creating their art in recognition of Bruce Lee, even though Marina had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic brain cancer and was to begin treatment. 

Twin Walls agreed to work with the Macro Waves team of Jeffrey Yip, Dominic Cheng and Anum Awan, who would use the design technology of project mapping to make the mural come alive. Fine projections of light travel along the curves of brush strokes, dramatically creating the illusion of a ring of fire around the kung fu legend. 

The husband-wife duo of Mike & Dee would add the soundscape to the immersive experience. Mike Dinkins, keyboardist for Tony! Toni! Toné!, told us that seeing how dynamic Bruce Lee was in his movies left an impression on him as a youth. When De’Ahna Turner, a vocalist who also teaches singing classes while raising their kids, played their “People of Color” song they would be dedicating to the exhibit, Anthony, Pam and I were almost moved to tears. They entertained my idea of also creating a soundtrack for the exhibit. 

With the concepts of the main exhibition hall and Yick Gallery in place by January 2021, we still had to figure Bruce Lee Underground. Our exhibit team discussed the appearance of Black artists segregated on a different floor from the Asian American story, even though the memorabilia in the Unifier section included Bruce Lee with Black and white men and women. Melonie was more concerned with something that she and her sister hear often in their work: Everyone wants Black people for entertainment and to create a cool vibe. 

Gulp. I plead Guilty. My theory is that so many young Asians around the world look to Black performers for music, storytelling, fashion and language because they know Black people constantly invent and define what’s cool. But just as Asian Americans can be uncomfortable being typecast as smart, African Americans want to be known for skills and talents other than being cool entertainers. 

The other concern the Twins had was trying to keep their affiliation with the project under radar until we all had a stronger vision about the artistic direction. Why? Because Melonie said everyone they know would be knocking on their door wondering how they could participate or asking why they were not invited. I was surprised that Bruce Lee had such an impact on so many people and started to think that the Chinese American community had been overlooking this. 

Over the course of the development of this exhibit, Jane and I heard a number of older Chinese American men question why we were even doing this exhibit, as if Bruce Lee isn’t relevant anymore or shouldn’t continue to dominate the limited publicity that Asians are allowed in America. We did not find that sentiment to be the case with Asian Americans under 60 or people of any other cultural background. 

By the time the exhibit opened, we had the involvement of almost two dozen artists. Melonie and Melorra’s curation of the “We Love Bruce Lee” exhibit in the Bruce Lee Underground space was a tremendous feat.

Working with the Underground artists for the installation of their work was the highlight of Anthony’s experience with the exhibit. His thought samples:

• William Rhodes’ quilt art made by children and seniors in the Black and Chinese communities in San Francisco: With the way the world is now, it’s so powerful to have something that can bring people together. It’s so beautiful to hear their stories.
• Art of Goddess Quan Yin by Kufue: Quan Yin was Bruce’s favorite spiritual figure. I was touched by Kufue’s story of how he and his wife became vegan starting in their 20s because they saw kung fu monks who ate healthy whole vegan foods. And since then, they have regularly gone shopping for groceries in Chinatown because they wanted the same lifestyle as the monks.
• Street artist Apexer, a San Francisco native whose work has been featured around the world in major public spaces and venues: Apexer came straight off the plane from a commissioned project in Dubai to work on the project. He said the way he learned to spray paint was inspired by Chinese calligraphy – always flowing. He painted the waves that bring you from the immersive space to Bruce Lee Underground.
• Bishop (aka Adisa Banjoko), the subject of Mandeep Sethi’s film: Bishop, who is Black, worked on a collaboration video piece for the exhibit with Mandeep, who is Sikh. He was inspired by Bruce Lee to learn martial arts and now teaches Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to Chinese senior citizens for self protection. He felt it is his duty to give back to the community that Bruce Lee came from.

The Launch

To promote the exhibit prior to the opening to generate public interest, Tom Lee secured with a publishing company an agreement to produce a Bookazine that you find in some supermarkets across the country and on eBay and Etsy today. 

Tom also had the idea to organize and operate on social media a Birthday Blitz on what would have been Bruce Lee’s 80th birthday – Nov. 27, 2020.

My friend and colleague Toan Lam, a former television journalist with his own talk show, served as the Blitz event host. Chris secured an interview with San Francisco Chronicle Arts and Culture Columnist Tony Bravo about Bruce Lee’s iconic style. Our exhibit team with collector Jeff Chinn and supporter Jerry Lee solicited and secured videos including “Into the Badlands” actor Daniel Wu, comedian W. Kamau Bell, martial artist Dan Inosanto, “Striking Distance” author Charles Russo, “Mayor Ed Lee” documentary filmmaker Rick Quan and dancer Alexandra Nguy.

Watch all the Birthday Blitz videos on the CHSA Museum YouTube channel.

Laying the foundation for the early marketing of the exhibit were Alex with Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, a former board member for the National Association of Black Journalists and publisher of shades Magazine – Celebrating All Women of Color. Michelle helped promote the Blitz on the front end and monitor the comments on the back end. 

On March 2021, as the planning stage was complete and CHSA ushered in their new Executive Director, I resigned from the project and began consulting with Melonie and Melorra at the African American Art & Culture Complex in solidarity with the neighborhood community that I had spent more than a decade working with to build unity and economic sustainability. 

The rest of the exhibit team and museum staff continued to complete the management, fundraising, writing, design and installation. Some roles were shifted after my departure with Anthony leading the project management and Tom leading the curatorial decisions.

The “We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family” exhibit opened April 2022 at CHSA in San Francisco. 

My favorite visitor comment is a social media post questioning why there is so much Black representation when this is an exhibit about a Chinese American hero. He said it looked like the organizers had an “agenda.” Yeah, that’s right. You can blame me. 

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Janice Lee is a Contributing Editor with shades Magazine. She is a fourth-generation native San Franciscan (on her mother’s side) who has worked with and covered communities of color since 1987. 

shades Magazine and Publisher Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig were media sponsors for the early publicity of the “We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family” exhibit in San Francisco.

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Additional Resources

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