thesis response three

The third thesis I decided to read was Cultural Fusion in Brand Strategy by Aeson Chen. This thesis focuses on Aeson's belief that "cultural hybridization which avoids the pitfalls of gentrification, exoticism and orientalism... will have a huge impact to create a new value to the world." While some might argue that cultural fusion can "dilute the original traditions and styles," I too believe that the future of design is a more conglomerate of many styles and cultures.

Aeson describes the potential problems of fusion as gentrification, exoticism and orientalism. Gentrification is a common term used in real estate that describes the action of renovation of housing to bring in an upper or middle class citizens while displacing lower income businesses and families. Exoticism is our draw to the unfamiliar. We often find ourselves interested in styles that we aren't used to and we might utilize a style to represent a look and feel of something. However, this can turn out negatively because misrepresentation can occur and it can lose its traditional meaning. Orientalism is a type of stereotyping that can again create misrepresentations and create a negative impact on a culture.

In his thesis, Aeson chose really interesting examples cultural fusion that has failed and succeeded. I appreciate that he incorporated food, fashion, and design. I too have found it interesting that most "foreign" food to Americans we take and bastardize to our taste. Italian food (pizza, pasta), Mexican food (tacos, rice and beans) etc. all take form of something foreign to the original food culture. Many people may find that when they travel the food doesn't taste like American versions of the food they are eating. I found the examples of successful fusion to be VERY beautiful and exciting.

In conclusion, I felt Aeson's thesis was very interesting and it made a beautiful argument for fusion the right way. We have come a long way in art and design and being inspired by other cultures and styles can create some amazing work.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1683194/ais_classes/portfolio_pres/12fa/thesis/chen_aeson_thesis.pdf