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2022
TUNG CHUNG PRIZE
INTER-(BEING)
PEI-YING LIN
2022/01/07 - 02/28
When COVID-19 descended upon the world in 2020, the global order was forced to deviate from its previous norms. In Inter-(Being), artist Pei-Ying Lin draws attention to the unique capability of viruses to overcome the reproductive barrier of species in order to establish the new perspective of the ‘Virosphere’ — a perspective echoing the relationship between humans and non-human organisms. By emphasizing the interdependent nature of these connections, her works call attention to the debate on human-viral coexistence.
Pei-Ying Lin combines different perspectives from the fields of biological science, sociocultural studies and art to present the overlapping relationships between humans and viruses, with the hope of prompting audiences to reflect upon their attitudes toward these organisms. Taking viruses as its initial point of reflection, Inter-(Being), Pei-Ying Lin Solo Exhibition then probes the subject more deeply by looking through spiritual, corporeal, and behavioral lenses.
In Studies of Interbeing-Trance 1:1, a shaman attempts to summon the spirit of COVID-19 through a ritual that incorporates religious music and rhythmic bodily movements, whilst hand-knitting is used to mimic the replication of viral proteins as they might appear under the microscope. The ritual thus functions as a kind of cultural writing of viral spirituality; Studies of Interbeing-Pedigree X is a work produced in collaboration with BIONET’s gene sequencing technology, in which the artist had their own blood tested. Virus sequences hidden within Lin’s own genes were then flagged using the color red and displayed via quickly flickering projections, emphasizing the fact that humans and viruses have long coexisted together throughout our evolutionary process; Discourse of a Viral Boundary constructs an imaginary narrative of a viral outbreak, collating the hidden desires and fears of people towards viruses in the midst of a pandemic; and finally Manifesto for the Holobiont in its Infancy-Human Version outlines ten basic rules of conduct for interspecies symbiosis to explore new models of coexistence with microorganisms. The artist utilizes unconventional contexts to interrogate viruses to articulate a new understanding of how humans and viruses might co-exist.
Major Sponsor｜Hong Chien Ching-Hui
Organizer｜Hong Foundation／Project Seek
Cooperation Partner｜Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab
Co-organizer｜BIONET
Supporting Partner｜Panasonic Taiwan
Production Support｜Instrument Inventors Initiative, National Taiwan Science Education Center, National Culture and Arts Foundation, StimuleringsFonds
ARTIST
PEI-YING LIN
Pei-Ying Lin is an artist / designer from Taiwan currently based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Her work combines art and science, exploring the interconnectedness of human emotions, language and society; leaping from digital realms to biology and cultural perceptions. Her recent work operates on the boundaries between invisible/visible and living/non-living, as well as crafting tools and methods that facilitate such explorations. She was the recipient of an Honorary Mention at 2020 STARTS Prize, Honorary Mention at 2015 Ars Electronica, and has also received recognition from the 2015 Core 77 Awards and 2016 BioArt and Design Award.
EVENT
"Manifesto for the Holobiont Kickoff " Workshop
The "Manifesto for the Holobiont Kickoff" project invites participants to discuss, revise, and improve on the original ten principles laid out in Manifesto for the Holobiont. The term holobiont refers to an independent ecological entity and biomolecular network composed of a host and its symbiotic microorganisms; the concept, proposed by Lynn Margulis in 1990, has grown in relevance in recent years. By applying this holobiont framework to the human species, rather than seeing the "individual" as a being composed of just human cells, we would also include all microorganisms on and in our bodies. Subsequently, the addition of these microorganisms would also affect our views of what constitutes the "individual" as well as the states of our bodies. How would this affect our definitions of "self"? Furthermore, how do we train ourselves to develop "Holobiont-Awareness"?
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