Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Bronze McDonald's

Zhang Hongtu
Mai Dong Lao
, 2002
cast bronze
same size as actual McDonald containers
edition of 10
image: http://www.plumblossoms.com/jidachun/maodanglao.htm

Mai Dong Lao is the Chinese pronunciation of McDonald's.

麦 (mai) is wheat or a general term for wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.
当 (dang) means appropriate, to serve as, or to be used as.
劳 (lao) means to work or to labor. (http://goodcharacters.com/blog/2007/04/05/mcdonalds-mai-dang-lao/)

A humorous use of the traditional Chinese medium bronze to create an object of American pop culture.

Chinese Artists: Reinventing Tradition
Reading Zhang Hongtu

1 comment:

 Nathaniel Perkins said...

That is just damn interesting, A.L. Fascinating post yet again. Thank you.