Bound and Unbound （缠了再剪开）

Creator(s)

Tian-miao LIN 林天苗

Preview

Date

1997

Format

Photograph

Exhibition Event Title

“Bound-Unbound 1995-1997”

Date of Exhibition Event

1997

Location of Exhibition Event

Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Materials

White cotton thread, 800 household objects, video, sound, 4m(W) x 3m(H) Screen made out of white cotton thread

Dimensions

Dimensions variable

Description

The installation, "Boud and Unbound," is made up of, “...An accumulation of nearly 800 household objects around which Lin had carefully wound white unbleached cotton thread, transforming everyday utensils that ranged from pots and pans to teapots and children's toys into a sea of formal, aesthetic objects. Greeting the viewer at the entrance was a video of a hand cutting threads with a pair of scissors projected onto a screen made up of actual threads. The video image was a strange act of disrupture in what was otherwise a scene of order...What began as a nostalgic reference to a childhood spent helping her mother sew the family’s clothes was transformed into a technique that had not only become her technical signature, but also has enabled her to address issues related to a gendered experience of the world. The installation Bound and Unbound (1997) took this technique to a much more ambitious level.” (Chiu, Melissa. (2013). “The Body in Thread and Bone: Lin Tianmiao.” Lin Tianmiao: bound unbound. Milan, Charta.) (Russ, Hannah '18)