Ming Lin's Page

Status

Artist, Arts Professional

Discipline(s)

Visual Arts, Literary Arts

In your own words, what is your ethnic identity? (for individuals)

Chinese American

Your Artistic Background/Mission

I grew up in close proximity to the frenzy of Canal Street, the scuttling of small orange and blue crabs escaping from fish mongers, and suspicious underground acupuncture dens. I am of Chinese descent, but never really considered my ancestry a major component of my identity until my studies in anthropology and art history inspired me to confront my cultural background further in order to maintain a reflexive perspective when exploring the realms of how meaning is produced and reproduced in physical objects and cultural practice.

My work borders on the intersections of art and anthropology, challenging the institutions in which they are embedded. Museums currently face the predicament of trying to define what role they play in an increasingly globalized world, where single linear narratives are no longer accepted as fact and romanticized notions of origin and authenticity are questioned. Using an ethnographic approach, I seek to collapse the boundaries between life and art, illuminating the everyday practices and rituals that define a culture. I hope to weave a story that is less didactic, in which hybrid identities have a place. I view the role of the artist as initiator of chance encounters. From these, new meanings are created.

Your Creative Influences

I am influenced by the things I encounter in my ethnographic research and view art as a vehicle for social change.

If you are not in New York City, what are your ties to New York's Asian American artistic community?

I live in NYC part-time

Web Link

http://theobjectivecorrelative.tumblr.com