Lin Tianmiao - 'Bound Unbound' 1997 & 'Badges' 2010-12
Lin Tianmiao is China’s most famous female artist, whom in recent years has risen to the ranks of dominating Chinese male art stars. “Lin Tianmiao is one of the most influential Chinese artists coming out of the 1990s”, notes Melissa Chiu, director of the prestigious Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, and former director of the Asia Society Museum in New York. Growing up, Lin spent her days helping her mother winding cotton thread into balls for sewing projects. She notes it was a task dually hated, however little did she know years later, she would return to this process over and over again as an artist.
‘Bound Unbound’ is Lin Tianmiao’s 1997 installation consisting of 548 household utensils tightly wrapped in cotton thread and arranged on the ground in a setting similar to that of an archaeological site. Along with the mummified objects, a video projects onto a screen of more hanging cotton threads, showing a frighteningly sizeable pair of scissors cutting threads on endless rotation. Lin’s choice of material, the white cotton thread, and use of the binding technique address ideas of the urbanisation and modernisation of contemporary China, whilst also reflecting the memories and history of Lin’s childhood, and the traditions of Chinese culture. White cotton thread has a special connotation for the generation of people who lived in China during the 1960s and 1970s, of which include Lin and her family. This visual symbol represents the uniforms of many state owned ‘work units’, which in the hands of a skillful woman could be transformed into other things including, hats, table cloths and curtains. Many of the 548 household objects in the installation belonged to a class of once-coveted domestic necessities that were rapidly becoming obsolete. By binding them in cotton thread, Lin symbolically transforms these quotidian objects into interestingly aesthetic pieces of art. The cotton binding has the effect of gently venerating the everyday, self-reliance, cultural and domestic skills they embodied. Decades later, similar sentiments would be articulated by another Chinese contemporary artist, Song Dong, in his more obvious installation, ‘Waste Not’.
‘Bound Unbound’ also includes a video component, which displays a repeating clip of monstrous scissors snipping through hanging thread; similar to that hanging in replace of a traditional projection screen. The video is ambiguous, with a slightly monotonising repetition. When questioned about the role technology plays in this installation, Lin states “They find their way into my work, sometimes as an accent…as a base…sometimes just as an effective tool”, an equally ambiguous response. It can be concluded nonetheless, that the careful and conscious choice of contrasting elements within Lin’s work combine together to form a powerful visual language with unpronounceable meaning.
Lin Tianmiao’s 2011-2012 installation, ‘Badges’, is a meticulous hanging installation of over sixty white silk embroidered hoops, emblazoned with American and Chinese slag words for women such as Cougar, Dyke, Beauty Queen and Gold Digger. Similarly to many of her previous works, ‘Badges’ incorporates domestic materials and processes linked to the female experience - instead this time the body is evoked through text instead of form. The work is a demonstration of Lin’s craftsmanship and her trademark practice of thread manipulation, in this case, embroidery. Similarly to ‘Bound Unbound’, this work is accompanied by a soundtrack, rather than video, of the same labeling terms. Not only does Lin’s practise evaluate the traditional use of badges, it appropriates these uniform emblems, through an exaggeration in size and parodying their principle use. Badges are typically used to identify and categorise people, objects and issues. Lin Tianmiao has cleverly manipulated their known use, to reflect her ideas and conceptual intentions. The embroided badges mark a change observed by Lin herself after moving to America in the 80s, regarding the words and phrases used to label women. Lin notes that through her research, conducted over a year along with an assisting artistic team, she discovered that in traditional Chinese culture, there had been very few words invented for the roles women played in society. However, in the past 20 years, Lin accounts that contemporary culture has experienced an “accelerating explosion of new words”, and consequently the way women participate in society has changed dramatically. The oversized badges hang over the heads of the viewing audiences in the gallery, similar to that of being transformed and conformed by language, the words on the badges are labels that the audience cannot ignore, nor escape. Lin’s mindful awareness of the reception of her works, adds to the importance and power of her conceptual messages.
Christopher Phillips, curator at the International Center for Photography in New York notes that Lin’s technique of embroidering and binding her works with cotton thread is one of her strongest conceptual symbols. “It can attract anyone, no matter how little knowledge they have of Chinese culture and Chinese history…the more you look into it, the more multilayered it becomes”. A delicate balance of tradition and innovation, ‘Bound Unbound’ and ‘Badges’ are an encapsulation of Chinese history, family history and a sign of subservience to the contemporary textile trade in China, within which women play a large role.
The message of Lin’s works is highly obvious and evident through the visual codes surfaced in her material practise through choice of technique, medium and display.
‘Bound Unbound’ is Lin Tianmiao’s 1997 installation consisting of 548 household utensils tightly wrapped in cotton thread and arranged on the ground in a setting similar to that of an archaeological site. Along with the mummified objects, a video projects onto a screen of more hanging cotton threads, showing a frighteningly sizeable pair of scissors cutting threads on endless rotation. Lin’s choice of material, the white cotton thread, and use of the binding technique address ideas of the urbanisation and modernisation of contemporary China, whilst also reflecting the memories and history of Lin’s childhood, and the traditions of Chinese culture. White cotton thread has a special connotation for the generation of people who lived in China during the 1960s and 1970s, of which include Lin and her family. This visual symbol represents the uniforms of many state owned ‘work units’, which in the hands of a skillful woman could be transformed into other things including, hats, table cloths and curtains. Many of the 548 household objects in the installation belonged to a class of once-coveted domestic necessities that were rapidly becoming obsolete. By binding them in cotton thread, Lin symbolically transforms these quotidian objects into interestingly aesthetic pieces of art. The cotton binding has the effect of gently venerating the everyday, self-reliance, cultural and domestic skills they embodied. Decades later, similar sentiments would be articulated by another Chinese contemporary artist, Song Dong, in his more obvious installation, ‘Waste Not’.
‘Bound Unbound’ also includes a video component, which displays a repeating clip of monstrous scissors snipping through hanging thread; similar to that hanging in replace of a traditional projection screen. The video is ambiguous, with a slightly monotonising repetition. When questioned about the role technology plays in this installation, Lin states “They find their way into my work, sometimes as an accent…as a base…sometimes just as an effective tool”, an equally ambiguous response. It can be concluded nonetheless, that the careful and conscious choice of contrasting elements within Lin’s work combine together to form a powerful visual language with unpronounceable meaning.
Lin Tianmiao’s 2011-2012 installation, ‘Badges’, is a meticulous hanging installation of over sixty white silk embroidered hoops, emblazoned with American and Chinese slag words for women such as Cougar, Dyke, Beauty Queen and Gold Digger. Similarly to many of her previous works, ‘Badges’ incorporates domestic materials and processes linked to the female experience - instead this time the body is evoked through text instead of form. The work is a demonstration of Lin’s craftsmanship and her trademark practice of thread manipulation, in this case, embroidery. Similarly to ‘Bound Unbound’, this work is accompanied by a soundtrack, rather than video, of the same labeling terms. Not only does Lin’s practise evaluate the traditional use of badges, it appropriates these uniform emblems, through an exaggeration in size and parodying their principle use. Badges are typically used to identify and categorise people, objects and issues. Lin Tianmiao has cleverly manipulated their known use, to reflect her ideas and conceptual intentions. The embroided badges mark a change observed by Lin herself after moving to America in the 80s, regarding the words and phrases used to label women. Lin notes that through her research, conducted over a year along with an assisting artistic team, she discovered that in traditional Chinese culture, there had been very few words invented for the roles women played in society. However, in the past 20 years, Lin accounts that contemporary culture has experienced an “accelerating explosion of new words”, and consequently the way women participate in society has changed dramatically. The oversized badges hang over the heads of the viewing audiences in the gallery, similar to that of being transformed and conformed by language, the words on the badges are labels that the audience cannot ignore, nor escape. Lin’s mindful awareness of the reception of her works, adds to the importance and power of her conceptual messages.
Christopher Phillips, curator at the International Center for Photography in New York notes that Lin’s technique of embroidering and binding her works with cotton thread is one of her strongest conceptual symbols. “It can attract anyone, no matter how little knowledge they have of Chinese culture and Chinese history…the more you look into it, the more multilayered it becomes”. A delicate balance of tradition and innovation, ‘Bound Unbound’ and ‘Badges’ are an encapsulation of Chinese history, family history and a sign of subservience to the contemporary textile trade in China, within which women play a large role.
The message of Lin’s works is highly obvious and evident through the visual codes surfaced in her material practise through choice of technique, medium and display.