Jungle Box

China Box fast food box, Raspberry Pi player, small Led screen, variable size, 2017

The artist explores the cultural misalignment of Asian immigrants in German culture through the example of Asian fast food boxes. Jungle Box is a mischievous appropriation of China Box. China Box is a fried noodle fast food that mixes the tastes of Southeast Asia and Europe. It is a European and American Chinese food born from the experience of Asian immigrants. However, most of the China Box is operated by Vietnamese Berliners. “China” here represents a kind of catering to the general stereotype, so the operator plays a special cultural connection role in the cross field of multiple identities . The intersection of identities creates a dislocation of identities.

The artist selected the image from Vietnam and cut out the image on the picture, placing the image of Europeans and Americans behind it, so it was revealed in the outline of immigrants that it was no longer their own image. As a background, the jungle pictures reflect the stereotypes of Vietnamese society in European and American culture, revealing a clear post-colonial taste, which also corresponds to the European and American people’s traditional cognitive experience of Asian food. These ethnic images are arranged in the installation, and a number of China Boxes are neatly arranged in the space. Inside are placed miniature screens that continuously loop the composite images made by the artist.

installation view