Art—the people behind it and those who follow it—has this peculiar tendency toward spectacle. Tangible works excite, tease, and overwhelm the senses. Taiwanese artist Michael Lin’s pieces work that way: appealing to an audience for being engaging, yet still familiar.
Last Friday, he was in Manila to hold a public talk about his acclaimed and prolific work. In collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, Michael divulges how he works on public spaces such as museum walls to get his audience to be part of the conversation.
Michael is a product of many cultures: born in Tokyo, raised in Taiwan till he was eight, lived in the US, moved from Brussels to Shanghai to Taipei, and currently in Manila. His works often engage with diverse communities, and reflect his cultural background.
A perfect example is his work back in 2008 called What A Difference A Day Made, a large-scale exhibition at the Shanghai Art Gallery, where he turned the space into a store that resembled a similar shop in his Shanghai neighborhood. “I was curious about my neighbors and the surroundings,” Michael recounts.
He also adds how these shops relate to the community, and how the array of everyday objects found in these tells a story about them. When this exhibition opened, it was “an artwork that made people think the gallery ran out of business,” because it convincingly turned into an ordinary neighborhood store.
Another noteworthy exhibition is his A Modest Veil, where a collosal hand-painted mural covered the Georgia Street façade of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It challenged the notion that art should only be displayed within the confines of a gallery space. Being the rebel that he is, the work is placed outside of the gallery, and transformed the gallery’s architecture as it challenged public perception with its presence.
It’s much like how his works are in general—massive painting installations with patterns often based in traditional Taiwanese textiles and are worked into spaces and communities to challenge as well as engage.
Meanwhile, we could all eagerly anticipate Michael Lin’s upcoming solo exhibition at MCAD Manila in mid-February 2016. It will be exciting to see how he will transform a local space this time around.
Photos by Gian Cruz
