A Modest Veil:
Michael Lin, Installation Artist that Crosses the Borders
In the 60s, there were many things yet to be developed in Taiwan. The ordinary printed cloth people used at that time, half a century later, has been skillfully pulled out, copied and enlarged with technology, and placed in the world’s palace of installation art. It becomes stylish and post-modern, gives the public feelings of warmth and amazes the art critics. The Taiwanese artist, Michael Lin, is the clever creator that mixes and recreates elements of “folk” and “art”.
Michael Lin’s origin and life experience are both cross-cultural. His great-grandfather Lin Hsien-Tang was a pioneer in Taiwan’s national movement, and his grandmother was Japanese. Lin was born in Tokyo in 1964, returned to Taiwan when he was one-year-old, studied in elementary school in Taiwan, and then moved to the United States to complete high school and university. He obtained his Master of Fine Arts in California and decided to return and settle down in Taiwan to start his career in 1993. He currently lives in Paris and is engaged in creating art.
It is hard to imagine that an American Taiwanese, educated in the western world for most of his life, used the traditional patterns in his mother culture and turned them into Dada-style art. These arts are also proofs of the concept of “Relational Aesthetics.” In an interview, Lin laughed and said that this had to do with the fact that his wife, who is French and loves Chinese culture, uses cloths of these traditional Taiwanese floral patterns to make pillows. He just drew them into his paintings and received tremendous feedbacks at the exhibition held in Taiwan. It turns out that the printed cloth, which has almost been eliminated by time, contains great aesthetic values and a common memory of local people.
The sensitive artist explored this further and found the “secret code” in the flowery cloth. He changed this communication interface to different cultural symbols in different countries. In Japan it became flowers printed on kimono cloth, in Netherlands it became the tulips, and in Hawaii it become the hibiscus. He travelled to nearly 20 countries in 10 years with his art. The forms of art installations range from museum, city halls, designers’ cloths to sofas in famous furniture stores.
To erase the boundaries between art and life is the main focus of all of Lin’s creation. The messages released from his art are simple, direct and strong. He wants to tell his audience: “Immerse into the art; put in your own experience.” It is exactly because of his cross-cultural background, he does not rigidly stick to different categories of art. He shows a vision that integrates the local with the world. Grandma’s floral fabric thus draws attention internationally and becomes part of the art vocabulary.
Exhibition Dates: 1/22/2010 – 5/02/2010
Location:
Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia Street façade （750 Hornby Street, Vancouver）
Theme: A Modest Veil