"McAmen" by Artist Junhao Wu

"As a child, of course, I didn't know why that counted as a bragging rights. Maybe I get the answer now: we don't really desire the experience of eating McDonald's or the burgers themselves, but we desire what others desire (which can be shaped by public media). When I grew older, I dreamed of leaving my hometown, hoping that one day I can live in a city and eat McDonald's every day...."

"During the lockdowns Wu imagined the day he could walk into a McDonald's freely as the mark of a return to normalcy. On that day he ordered a Filet-O-Fish at random. Struck by the smoothness of the bun, he took a photo. Since then Wu has visited more than 150 McDonald's restaurants, mainly in the UK and China. He always orders the Filet-O-Fish and always takes a photo from a fixed, top-down angle and uploads it to the Chinese social platoform Rednote (Xiaohongshu)."

China-born, UK-based artist Junhao Wu has consumed more than 350 Filet-O-Fish burgers as an ongoing art project. Four years ago while studying Contemporary Photography Practices and Philosophies at Central Saint Martins in London, Wu imagined walking into a McDonald's freely during pandemic lockdowns and ordered a Filet-O-Fish, photographing its smooth bun. Wu has since visited over 150 McDonald's across the UK and China, always ordering a Filet-O-Fish and photographing it from a fixed top-down angle before uploading images to Rednote (Xiaohongshu). The project's origins lie in economics and childhood nostalgia rooted in his southern Chinese hometown. The work provoked public attention, corporate engagement, and personal discomfort.

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