Artist
Yang Yu

Title
The Lost Box: When McNugget Sauce Became a Border

Budget CBK Rotterdam
€ 7.500,00

Request type
I&V subsidy

For her new work 'The Lost Box', Yang Yu brings together the well-known McDonald's sauce container with memories from her childhood. When the fast-food chain opened its first stores in China in the 90s, a visit to McDonald's symbolized modern Western life. After Yu moved to the Netherlands, she noticed that the company formed part of her homesickness for China. She realized that international food manufacturers can serve as an important anchor for migrants. Thanks to their low prices, familiar flavors, and recognizable packaging, their products create the illusion that you are 'at home everywhere'. Following the introduction of European legislation on Single Use Plastic, Yu realized how fragile this predictability is. Since January 1, 2024, the hard plastic sauce containers at European McDonald's locations have been replaced by flexible sauce pouches. The former sauce container is now central to Yu's case study addressing the question: what influence does environmental regulation have on the memories and sense of identity that migrants and international fast-food chains create together through food and eating habits? When familiar objects change or disappear, where do the feelings and memories associated with them go?