Mathematics of Light
Chin Chih Yang's "Mathematics of Light" is a sculpture/installation made of cans and other recyclable materials, which signals a conservation aesthetic in a society for the most part dedicated to waste. Not only do the cans have aesthetic features, such as shape, color, texture, and a certain relationship to light, they are themselves representations of what might have gone on to pollute the planet, had they not been put to more creative ends. Also: essential to "Mathematics of Light" is the use of modern and emergent technologies, enabling the artist to create an immersive environment participants can interact with and even move about in.
Medium:
More than 3,000 Aluminum strips cut from cans.
LED light auto fading into different colors.
Video clips from the Internet edited by the artist.
Stone base with 2" hole in the center.
Hardwood, Screws and floor protecting stickers.
Size: 18" L x 13" W x 18" H
Year: 2012 – 2014
Install: 20"L x 15"W x 45"H Pedestal Outlet
Multidisciplinary artist Chin Chih Yang was born in Taiwan, and has resided for many years in New York City. Where he studied at Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design. Among other honors, he has been a recipient of the Urban Artist Initiative Fellowship, a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, a fellowship from the Franklin Furnace, and a fellowship from the New York State Council for the Arts, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council has granted him a Swing Space residency at Governors Island, to name only a few.
His work uniquely incorporates the actual rhythms and discords of human society, exhibiting them in terms of the waste materials wantonly discarded by industrialized production. Finding the modern world both disturbing and entrancing, he aims in his work to capture the complex state of anxiety and compulsive-fascination specific to the contemplation of contemporary social problems. His performances often dramatize the divided quality of the self, and he use video projections to create a discordant ambience specific to the themes of his performances.
An experienced multidisciplinary artist, his interests in ecology and constructed environments have resulted in interactive performances and installations that have been exhibited nationally and internationally; in the United States, Poland, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, he has exhibited/performed in such spaces as: the Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, the Union Square Park, the Chelsea Museum, Queens Museum, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Exit Art, and Flux Factory and Taipei Art Fair, to name only a few.
Chin Chih Yang's work has been highlighted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Taipei Times, CBS, NY Art Beat, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, Flavorpill, Art Radar Asiaand Art Asia Pacific magazine. With this, NY1: its celebration of Asian-American artists with a profile of Chin Chih and the vivid works he makes out of mixed media. Also, Humphrey Hawksley of BBC world news interviewed him a special program on NYC Artists whose work on deals with political and social corruption.
Select Solo Exhibitions/Projects
2014 “Reconstruction Part IV”, Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Taiwan
2014 “Art Pollution” and “Kill Me or Change” project at Art Collect Iran, Tehran, Iran
2013 “Invisible love and beauty” at Queens Museum of Art Reopening, NYC
2013 “The Millennial Master of Love”, Panoply Performance Laboratory, NYC
2013 “Reconstruction Part III”, Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Taiwan
2013 “Prayer Interactive with the Art Flock Launch”, CUE Art Foundation, NYC
2012 “Kill Me or Change”, The Queens Museum of Art, NYC
2012 “Mathematics of Light”, Bridges 2012 Int’l Conference, Towson University, MD
2012 “Breathing” (commissioned installation), Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012 “Building a Future Human”, The Armory Week, Harvestworks, NYC
2011 “Human Earthquake”, Wall Street, Time Square, Union Square, Dobbs Ferry, NY
2011 “Love for Japan from US”, Rockefeller Center and Union Square Park, NYC
2011 “Project Room”, Butter Gallery, Miami, FL
2010 “123 Pollution Solution 2010”, Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC
2010 “My New Job”, Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College, NY
2010 “Prayer for Haiti” (interactive performance), Consulate General of Haiti, NYC
2009 “Carry Water I, II, III”, NY Biennale Art, NYC
2009 “Burning Ice”, Union Square Park, NYC
2009 “123PollutionSolution IV”, Union Square Park, NYC
2008-2009 “Pray for World Peace”, roving multimedia projection, NYC
2008 “American is looking…” (performance/installation) Wall Street/Broadway, NYC
2008 “1,000 years” (human sculpture/interactive installation) Union Square Park, NYC
2008 “The Secret of XS”(installation/performance/video projection) Tribes Gallery, NYC
2008 “UN for Taiwan Flag Project,” Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, NYC/Taipei
2007 “Memory Ceremony & Rebirth”, Ralph Bunche Park, NYC
2007 “When Perfidy Meets Virtue” United Nations, Consulate General of China, NYC
2007 “123PollutionSolution” (video installation) Fort Lee Community Center, NJ
2007 “123PollutionSolution” (video installation) Union Square Park, NYC
Select Group Exhibitions
2014 “Art pollution”, Gallery M-Mauersberger, Vienna, Austria
2014 “Recontextualizing the Found”, Anya and Andrew Shiva gallery, NYC
2013 “New/Reconstruction”, PSYCHLOTRON event, at Manhattan, NYC
2013 Lumen Festival 2013, Staten Island, NY
2013 “Pith Man”, Nanhua University, Chiayi County, Taiwan
2013 “The Grand Shop Opening, Panoply Performance Laboratory, NYC
2012-2013 Digital/Electronic Art Fellows exhibition, NYFA Gallery, NYC
2012 “My Brave New World + Mercy to the Earth”, Union Square Park, NYC
2012 “Pith Man” National Museum of Natural Science Botanical Garden, Taichung
2012 “My Brave New World + Mercy to the Earth”, Union Square Park, NYC
2012 “Taiwan Pith Paper”, Hsinchu Culture Bureau, Hsinchu City, Taiwan
2012 “Building a Future Human (Bodies)” – TOMORROW STARS at Verge Art NYC
2012 Performance, New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame Benefit, NYC
2011 “The Balance”, The Hive at 55 and ASI-Artists-10, NYC
2011 “Moving History”, moving video projection, Asian Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
2011 “Broken Mind”, Art Taipei, Taiwan
2011 Byrdcliffe Residency, open studio exhibition, Woodstock, NY
2011 Verge Brooklyn Art Fair, NY
2011 “Aluminum Forest 2010”, Asian Art Center, Towson University, MD
2010 Miami Art Fair – MIAMI CIELO exhibition, Miami, FL
2010 “Protection”, Surreal Estate, Brooklyn, NY
2010 “Kill Me or Change”, LMCC Swing Space, Governor’s Island
2010 “Kill Me or Change, Passport to Taiwan Cultural Festival, Union Square, NYC
2010 “Coughing Earth” University of North Carolina, Pembroke
2010 “Going Green” Queens Botanical Garden, NY; Asian Art Initiative, Philadelphia; Accident Gallery, Eureka, CA; University of North Carolina, Pembroke
2010 “Free Money”, Governors Island, NYC
2010 “Kill Me or Change”, Wassaic Project Summer Art Festival, Wassaic, NY
2010 “Housebroken”, Flux Factory inaugural exhibition, Long Island City
2009 “The War Against AIDS/HIV”, Queens Museum of Art, NY
2009 “1000 Years/Human Sculpture”, DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival, Brooklyn
2009 “Project”, Wassaic Project Summer Art Festival, Wassaic, NY
2009 “Secret of 101”, Figment 09 exhibition, Governors Island, NYC
2009 “100 Degrees”, Queens Council on the Arts/NYC Department of Transportation
Commission, in collaboration withHector Canonge, Queens College, NY
2009 “Free Money”, The Chelsea Museum, Asian Contemporary Art Week, NYC
2009 “Other, OTHER II” – The Nathan Cummings Foundation Gallery, NYC
2009 Queens International 4, The Queens Museum of Art, NY
2008 “Meditation in Contemporary Landscape”, Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens,NY
2008 “2050” DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival, Brooklyn, NY
2008 “Contemporary Bird's Nest: Charlie Parker Festival”, Tribes Gallery, NYC
2008 “It's Not Easy”, Exit Art, Herb Tam, NYC
2008 “Outside in: New Realms for Taiwan Art”, Columbia University, NYC
2007 “Beyond Measure”, First Bank Gallery, NYC
2006 “Beyond Measure”, Taipei Culture Center, NYC
2005 “Two Man Show”, Tribes Gallery, NYC
2005 “Artists Strike Twice”, Chelsea Spark Café & Art Center, NYC
2005 “Contemporary Art”, Union Square Park, NYC
Select Grants/Residencies/Awards
2014 Best of New Taipei City documentary film, Taiwan
2013 Arteles Creative Center Residency – Haukijarvi, Finland
2012 The Franklin Furnace Fund, “Kill Me or Change” interactive performance, NYC
2011 NYFA Fellowship, Digital/Electronic Art, New York Foundation for the Arts
2011 NYFA Residency, Byrdcliffe Colony, Woodstock, NY
2010 University of North Carolina Residency, Pembroke, North Carolina
2010 Swing Space/Governors Island Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
2010 NYSCA Artists' Fellowship, New York State Council on the Arts
2009 NYFA “The Opportunity Grant”, New York Foundation for the Arts, NYC
2009 The Vermont Studio Center (residency awarded but deferred)
2009 Manhattan Community Arts Fund Recipient, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs
2008 Urban Artist Initiative Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
2007 Gordian Knots Project, Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York
2006 The Control of Fear/Gordian Knots Project, Taipei Culture Center, NYC
2005 New York Foundation for the Arts Fiscal Sponsorship
2005 “Control of Fear”, ACM Multimedia Interactive Art Program, Singapore
1999 Gold Medal, The 29th Creativity Annual - Creative Achievement for Photography.
Select Reviews/Interviews
2012 The Wall Street Journal, “Chin Chih Yang stages his “Kill Me or Die”
2012 The New York Times - “Kill me or change”
2012 NY1 television news, Chin Chih Yang’s work, NYC
2012 Time Out New York Internet TV special report
2012 Uptown Radio, NYC, “Changing the Art World”, NYC
2012 The New York Times, “Chin Chih Yang at Governors Island”
2011 Art Radar Asia, Taipei Art Fair interview, editor: Kate Nicholson
2011 Central News Agency, Taiwan “Chin Chih Yang’s interactive projections
2011 NY1 News special report: “Asian-American artists profile - Chin Chih Yang”
2010 The New York Times, Chin Chin Yang at Governor’s Island”
2010 BBC- World News special report: NYC Artists work on “Corruption” issues by
Humphrey Hawksley
2009 Time Out New York, Human Sculpture at Dumbo Art Festival”
2009 CBS News, NTV America, and Community TV, “Burning ICE” project, NYC
2009 Flavorpill & Flavorwire: “Picture of the Day: “Burning Ice” project
2009 The New York Times, “100 Degree” reviews by Anne Barnard
2009 The New York Times, QMA international 4, reviews by Holland Cotter
2008 The VillageVoice, “Chin Chih Yang’s Inconvenient Truth”
2008 NY Art Beat, Chin Chih Yang
2008 Central News Agency, “Chin Chih Yang's Recycle Art Project”
2007 The Taipei Times – “Taiwanese Artist Draws Ire in NYC”, page 1
2003 Art AsiaPacific magazine, The Control of Fear: Art and the Epidemic as Excess
Lectures/Demonstrations/Panel and Juror Service
2014 Pratt Institute, Invited Lecturer, Graduate Fine Arts, NYC
2012 Invited Lecturer, National Taiwan Normal University, Fine Art School.
2012 Invited Lecturer, National Dong Hwa University, Dept. of Industrial Management.
2012 Invited Lecturer, Hsiuping Institute of Technology, Dept. of Industrial Management
2012 Artist talk, Bridge 2012 international conference – Towson University, Maryland
2012 Demonstration, Computer Art Graduate Studies, School of Visual Art, NYC
2010 Artist talk and demonstration, Univ. of North Carolina University, Pembroke, NC
2010 Artist talk and demonstration, Graduate Fine Arts, Princeton University, NJ
2009 Public Art Talk, Queens Council on the Arts, NY
2008 Art talk at TAC National Conference, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2006 Panelist/Juror, NYC Department of Education statewide painting competition
2005 Invited Lecturer, Computer Science/Information Engineering, Ph.D. Program, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan
2005 Invited Lecturer, Ph.D./MA program, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei
2005 Panelist/Juror, NYC Department of Education statewide painting competition
2000 Panelist, Artists Talk on Art Foundation
Education
1994 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, Master of Science
1986 Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, BFA