PETRI DISH WITH CELLS HYBRIDITY
Kimberley (Xiyu) Zhang / Academy of Art University / MFA Student
Theme Introduction
Hybridity refers to the combination of two or more independent components. This term is used to describe the mixture of various cultural factors that create new cross-cultural forms in areas affected by colonialism. The emergence of this word actually deeply discusses the impact on breaking cultural boundaries.
For example, if a colonized person falls in love with an intruder and marries and has children, did the existence of this mixed-race child represent the collision and integration of the two cultures? Should there be a clear boundary between the discussion of "purity" and "impure"? That is to say, at this time, people seem to realize that cultural hybridity continues to exist in the form of military aggression or blood reproduction, And this boundary among culture seems destined to be broken.
With the expansion of capital and the further development of industrialization, with the progress of science and technology and the arrival of the era of network globalization, there are more and more exchanges between countries, and people of all countries are increasingly able to live, work, settle, marry and have children outside their own countries. This also means that cultural hybridity no longer simply refers to the phenomenon of regional and cultural intermingling under the influence of colonialism, but it can appear anywhere as long as there is cultural integration and crossover.
What is the meaning of cultural integration? Is confused, is pain, is proud, is a collision, or tolerance? Today, cultural hybridity is no longer a minority phenomenon. On the contrary, it exists in every corner around us. In this design, I interviewed three friends around me with three different phenomenons of cultural hybridity, and designed a key chain product inspired by them. Through this interview and the in-depth understanding of their inner world and story, I can better realize the influence of cultural hybridity from each person's life, which also brought unparalleled inspiration for my works of art.
This is a Petri dish product, which records the culture process of three cells from different countries, races and cultural backgrounds. Each cell has its own unique story. Behind the beautiful and bright colored cells is a huge hybrid fusion. The inspiration for this product comes from the stories of three true friends around me. They are my four-nation mixed-race black American boyfriend, the girl who immigrated to Greece with her parents, and my sister who grew up in Guangzhou and later studied and settled in Hong Kong.
From this product, I want to get the phenomenon is that globalization has been an irresistible trend, and we need to be alert to the right-wing ideology in the world today. Once the boundaries between economy, politics, culture and human thought are re-established and the walls of mutual misunderstanding are re-constructed, the misunderstanding between people will only deepen.
Hybridization produces impure substances, but it also means the birth of new cultures, and more importantly, further mutual understanding and the birth of a new arts of beauty. We need a huge petri dish, put all kinds of possible cells into it, make the world rich and colorful, no longer single.
