Lee Mingwei is a Taiwanese artist currently living in New York. Lee creates both participatory installations, where strangers can explore issues of trust, intimacy, and self-awareness on their own, and one-on-one events, where visitors explore these issues with the artist himself through eating, sleeping, walking and conversation.
In The Mending Project the artist or host will mend the clothing you bring and converse with you while mending. The connections made will be turned into an installation of colourful thread.
Too bad I didn't know about this project before visiting. I had tons of socks to be mended! :-))
Another part of the show was a display of about ten "couples" of stones.
What would you do if you acquired a piece of art consisting of two stones, one of them an antique from 65,000,000BC and the other one a replica piece made by a famous artist. Upon acquiring it you are asked to throw one of the stones away. Which one has more value? Is value an absolute thing?
The Dinner Project. This is my entry for the ballot to have the opportunity to enjoy a meal prepared by the artist himself and to share dinner on the premises of the museum.
November 4th is the day after tomorrow and I haven't been called up yet. I guess it's not happening :-((
In the Moving Garden we are invited to take a flower when leaving the museum and to give it to a stranger on a detour to our way home. I didn't take any, as I was too lazy to take a different way home, and too self conscious to give a flower to a stranger. I didn't learn anything did I :-))
In The Fabric Memory, the artist has placed wooden boxes containing items that are part of his childhood memories. Visitors are free to open the boxes and explore, and to read the stories accompanying them.
After mending and eating with the artist, you can also sleep with him (no, not in that way). There are two beds in the room, I could not show both in the picture. You will share your stories with him, chat all night, and bring a few items that surround you in the bedroom you usually sleep in.
The last section of the show is The Letter Writing Project, where visitors are invited to write a few words to a person of their choice. It is up to you if you want to seal the envelope or leave it open for other people to read it. If you write down the address the museum will mail out your letter when the exhibition is over.
Yes, I did write a letter. No, it wasn't to Santa :-))
I grabbed a flyer of this show in Japan and read it last week, and it's been constantly on my mind since....I wish I'd experienced it. I think you should go back and challenge yourself...
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should :-)) I'd be curious to see if the pile of clothes and threads has grown, and what it looks like now. To me that was the most interesting part. There was also a room where a singer would pick one random person and create a song just for that person. The thing is, on the day I visited most rooms were empty and the artist wasn't there. That was slightly disappointing.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I was almost there…I wish I'd been there!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca! This reminds me I forgot to mention that there was a whole section about Yves Klein. We were not allowed to take pictures in that area so I couldn't document it, but I now think that THAT was actually my favourite part of the show :-)
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