CONFORM•CONSUME

Conform and consume is an exhibit that takes an in-depth look at the assimilation and modification of Japanese culture and cuisine in America.  Put more plainly it is how america has taken sushi in all its aspects and traditions and in making it its own, has made it into something completely different.

For this concept I kept in mind the idea of conforming and consuming sushi and how to best portray that.

I decided on taking this on in two parts.  The first is to change my icon color to something more appropriately or stereotypically American, thus deciding on the faded glory color scheme.  This set the tone for the rest of the imagery.  I took the American flag and masked out an area of it to either frame or contrast the icon.  The imagery inside the masks were at first shapes of things that reach, grab, eat, and consume, such as the profile of the eating man.  Later the imagery evolved into consumption related images that had more to do with the contrast between that image and the more traditional object that the icon depicts.  Such relationships are the fork and the chopsticks, and the fast food cup and the tea pot.