PAULINE YAO:

Michael Lin is a Taiwanese artist, he was born in Japan, raised in Taiwan and America.

PRESENTER:

Pauline Yao is lead curator for visual art at M+, and a close friend of Michael’s.

PAULINE YAO:

He attended art school in California and studied painting and then he returned to Taiwan after that and got involved with this group of artists and was working as a bartender in an art space, as that tends to happen, sometimes! It's a very social environment, and he was also making his own art. And then he eventually started exhibiting in that space and the work ‘Untitled (Cigarette Break)’, is from one of his early exhibitions in that art space.

So that's kind of where things began with him using these textile patterns. I think he was quite interested or fascinated with how these patterns speak of a certain kind of history within Taiwan, of decorative arts or a textile pattern and traditions that exist in Taiwan.

So, this was a period for him in which he was experimenting with how to use these patterns in a spatial way and create a dialogue with this cube, you know, the white cube of the gallery is also quite important. That juxtaposition between this very bright, colourful, floral pattern, which is very much about a private space or a home space or something domestic, and then contrasting that with the modernist art space.

He's also creating kind of a social space. So, he's not only using the pattern to maybe create a conversation with the environment, but then by using the pattern in relationship with the furniture. So, it's also a three-dimensional and two-dimensional transition. At this point, he was interested in that transitional space, so between the public and the private and sort of being neither nor.

The one thing though that really makes the whole installation or the whole work, something, sort of pivotal piece, I would say, is the addition of the ashtray. I just think it's one of these things that… that one object… to me, it would be a completely different work if that was not there, if the ashtray wasn't there it would just be two chairs. And you could have that very interesting dialogue, two-dimensional, three-dimensional pattern, surface, something, but the ashtray puts it onto some other plane or other level where, again, it invites back into this kind of more human presence and this social interaction aspect.

And I just find it fascinating—and I love the way that artists can do that, just with one small addition, twist and change the entire thing.

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