|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Made in China
Performance | Video Art |
In this performance series Made in China, Yao Ruilin sets out to explore the impact of consumer culture on the supply side. If there is demand, there is supply. The basic economic theory helps describe the once booming manufacturing sector in China.
Small entrepreneurs in rural China saw their lives change in front of their eyes as they meet the demands of consumers from all over the world. Foreign wealth flooded in these regions of the country, their lives dependent on the demand, dependent on capitalism, dependent on the wide-spread consumerist culture. But what are they so proudly making? Gag gifts, meme toys, baby Jesus for Christmas, inflated Jack-o-lantern suit for Halloween? The people that stitch on the 'Made in China' labels who make our products help shape the modern culture. These Chinese factories found themselves significantly involved in Western culture production in ways they couldn't imagine. They feed our desires during does moments of wanting something funny, wanting something to make us different, to be more like ourselves, to be happy. Without them, what would be our culture? |