Maya Lin will be on hand at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 15, helping to dedicate her piece, "Input," and Ohio University's Bicentennial Park.
The most prominent feature of the 3.5 acre Bicentennial Park is an artwork by artist Maya Lin, in collaboration with a poet, her brother Tan Lin.
The artwork consists of an array of rectangular 'punch cards' set into the earth -- resembling a computer data card. Embedded into each rectangle are words composed by Tan Lin -- creating a 'landscape of words' that reflects their memories of Ohio University and Athens, Ohio.
The artwork is uniquely autobiographical for both these artists -- the words evoke their memories of Athens, creating a personal text-image of their childhood home -- yet also these visual memories will resonate with anyone who has spent time in Athens or at Ohio University.
A strong interest in landscape and natural topography runs through much of Maya Lin's work. Lin brings a highly contemporary perspective to the landscape by merging the rational orderof high technology with the transcendental and irregular forms of nature. Works such as "Wave Field" (University of Michigan, 1993), "Groundswell" (Wexner Center for the Arts, 1993) and the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial (Washington, D.C., 1982) exemplify her interest in merging form with landscape. She is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York.
Tan Lin is a writer, artist and critic. He is the author of "Lotion Bullwhip Giraffe" (Sun and Moon Press) and "Blip Soak 01" (Atelos, 2003). His video and visual work have been exhibited at the Yale Art Gallery, the Sophiienholm (Copenhagen) and the Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York City). His writing has appeared in contemporary literary and cultural journals, including Conjunctions, Purple, Black Book and Cabinet. He is a professor of English at New Jersey City University.
Ohio.edu Front Page Photo of Maya Lin by Walter Smith
