When exposed to something new, people tend to deconstruct and understand it using the knowledge they already have. This coping mechanism has always led people to form weird and bizarre ritual practice, such as the fortune cookie from American Chinese restaurants, or the Japanese Christmas dinner with KFC. In 2020, with COVID 19 taking over the world, everyone from the pre-pandemic time now needs to adjust their daily life to adapt to this post-pandemic reality. This project explores the possibilities of how new living rituals would be created to help people process the rapid changes and keep up with the strange familiar world.
PAndemiC-MAN, 2020, Paper, 10 3/4 x 16 1/2 in.
The Cure 1, 2020, Paper, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in.
The Cure 2, 2020, Paper, 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 in.
Not Wet Market, 2020, Paper, 16 1/2 x 10 3/4 in.
Animal Taboo, 2020, Paper, 10 3/4 x 16 1/2 in.
Ran Xu is a product designer working in the cultural and technology fields while completing a Masters of Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Previously she earned a BFA from China Central College of Fine Art in Beijing. Her works mainly incorporate designed objects, curation and user interface design.
As a kid, she was obsessed how things worked and how they were made. She took apart a clock before she could write the word “clock,” and learned how to repair a bike while learning how to ride it. Her curiosity in understanding objects led to her passion in making them.
She believes one’s work speaks about the author. Her work reflects her voice, her image, and her signature. She developed an interest in working with technology after witnessing various advances around her. After moving to Chicago to pursue her master’s degree, the complexity created by cultural exchange and conflicts between eastern and western perspectives made her reexamine her relationship with the world around her and create design work in response.