@vsrajadnya

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வணக்கம்!

With its bronze, intricate decorative elements, surely a Happy Meal in the Shang Dynasty couldn’t be on the value menu.

In Mai Dang Lao (McDonald’s), a hamburger box, fries container, fork, and knife are cast in bronze and adorned with traditional Chinese motifs like the taotie mask, typically featured on ancient ritual bronze vessels used in worship of the ancestors. 

Here it is combined with the iconic logo of the fast-food giant, transforming the “Happy Meal” into a Shang-dynasty artifact. The Asian American artist Zhang Hongtu, a leader of the “Political Pop” movement in contemporary Chinese art, lives in Queens, New York, after emigrating from China in the 1980s. By creatively juxtaposing ancient China with contemporary America, and ritual art with consumer culture, Zhang whimsically critiques systems of power. 

This month marks the one year anniversary of this blog and the official start of my quest to pay down $51,000 in debt. When I first started I was nervous regarding how I was going to do this and if I could make my 2023 deadline.

In that year I’ve paid off $19,000 in debt! This includes my car and a small chunk of my larger student loans debt. Just writing that brings a smile to my face as I only have $32,158 left to pay off my debts and I’ve moved my deadline forward to 2021. I’ve never felt so accomplished as I take the slow trip out of debt and not only prove that I can do it, but become a better person in the process.

Once again thank you all so much for being encouraging and actually taking an interested in this process.