Brendan Lee Satish Tang is a visual artist based in West Canada. For his recent “Manga Ormolu” series, he combined Chinese Ming dynasty vase design with pop Asian mecha elements to address issues of hybridization, consumerism and globalization.

The message of globalization and of cultures hybridizing and merging together reflects his personal history: Tang was born in Dublin, Ireland to Trinidadian parents (father of Chinese decent and mother of Indian decent), and is a naturalized citizen of Canada.

Manga Ormolu enters the dialogue on contemporary culture, technology, and globalization through a fabricated relationship between ceramic tradition (using the form of Chinese Ming dynasty vessels) and techno-Pop Art. The futuristic update of the Ming vessels in this series recalls 18^thcentury French gilded ormolu, where historic Chinese vessels were transformed into curiosity pieces for aristocrats. But here, robotic prosthetics inspired by anime (Japanese animation) and manga (the beloved comics and picture novels of Japan) subvert elitism with the accessibility of popular culture.

discovered via designboom

Author : Jellyfish

Jellyfish is a regular contributor to Neocha EDGE, discovery engine of creative content and emerging youth culture in China, and a full-service idea and execution house that helps clients understand, engage, and co-create with Chinese creative communities.