Hey Suzan!
Since we recently celebrated Chinese New Year – and now we're working on this new packaging project for the Chinese market, I've had China on the brain. Okay, I know it's really old and you've probably already seen it, ....but I'm posting it anyway in the off-chance that maybe you haven't come across this gem, which is an oldie but a goodie. The title and tagline says it all pretty much: "
Accidental Chinese Hipsters: A loving gaze cast upon the grandmother wearing dayglo jeggings and a visor." So it's just a collection of pictures of Chinese people, mostly elderly, totally ignoring (and probably oblivious to) any Western fashion style standards. And the result is hilarious but also endearing - they're wearing crazy colors and patterns and it's not necessarily that they don't know that it looks silly or ugly – it's more that it's functional – and looking silly and ugly is actually quite alright. Finding parallels between these image-oblivious Chinese and image-conscious hipsters is brilliant, and actually done really affectionately toward both groups. It's written by 20-something
Alison Kuo, a Chinese-American artist who grew up in Texas, and I guess these kinds of observations/ironies/commentaries about Chinese culture always strike a chord with me because of my own sort of similar background. But cross-cultural issues aside, the truth is that Chinese people just love making fun of other people, especially each other. But who am I kidding, this will probably be me in like 20 years (or sooner....)!
E xx
