Asia Society and Musuem
The Bound Unbound exhibition at the Asia Society and Museum by Lin Tianmiao was truly fascinating. Not knowing what i was getting myself into when going to the museum, i was surprised by the very first piece of art i saw All the same (2011). Lin Tianmiao combined varies individual imitation human bones with different mechanic tools and then wrapped them with thread winding technique to create this piece. Then the pieces are attach on stainless steel stand to be displayed.
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Source:http://asiasociety.org/new-york/exhibitions/bound-unbound-lin-tianmiao#exhibitionhighlights
The winding of threads are remarkable. Each thread is so precisely wrapped that they seem to become ribbons around the structure! There was one individual piece in particular that caught my attention. In this Lin Tianmiao combined a water faucet with a human arm bone. Where if the faucet were to be turn there would be no water coming out. Ms. Lin uses this to comment on the freedom of speech in china, in which the government controls what is being expressed by the people. The invisible water represents thoughts of the people in China and the faucet is the government. The faucet controls the out flowing of the water just like the government control the expression of thoughts.
Bones give us structure while tools give things structure. By using these two basic components that give forms, Ms. Lin successfully displays her view on the Chinese government.
