Content area
Abstract
This study is based on the essential element of food in human society to explore how ethnic Chinese students in America, under the umbrella of dietary culture, familiarize themselves with and integrate into two different cultural environments (China and the US) using this tangible medium. The Chinese-American community, influenced by growing up in American culture, yet also impacted by their Chinese families and their East Asian appearance, generally undergoes a process of exploration or adaptation in terms of identity. This viewpoint has been extensively discussed and substantiated in the literature review section. This study is also practice-based. Around this theme, a series of artistic works have been created to showcase the research findings of this study in a visual manner. Common foods in both Chinese and Western cultures, such as mooncakes and pasta, are used as primary subjects for innovative design in terms of form, color, and other aspects, to depict the confusion, understanding, adaptation, and integration process of the ethnic Chinese community in the face of cultural collisions. Secondly, a restaurant that incorporates augmented reality has also been designed, with detailed displays of the restaurant's spatial visual image, menu, and other contents in the results section. Overall, this study argues that fusion is an inevitable emotional state for ethnic Chinese individuals. Throughout the entire process of design and creation, how to balance the sense of identity between Chinese and Western cultures, as well as dietary identity, is a topic worthy of attention.
