LIU PINYU│L in K
Lin Ke, born in 1984, is a graduate in new media from CAFA. This is in a strict sense his first solo exhibition. It exhibits his works since 2010, a series of recordings of photography and performance art based on the aesthetics of the internet and computer operating systems. They show a succession of his explorations and findings on the aesthetics of daily use of computer operating systems.
Lin Ke had not put special emphasis on new media in the beginning of his career. He’s also good at painting. But painting could not present the kind of challenge he wanted. He discovered ‘file folder’ in 2010. Everyone is familiar to file folder icons of computer operating systems, but one day in 2010, Lin Ke noticed that the file folders were ‘talking’ to him. This revelation-like experience was not an illusion, but came from the sensitivity to image developed in his visual and physical trainings. ‘File folder’ and computer screen form a new kind of figure-ground relationship. Its derivations, produced by Lin Ke’s unceasing efforts, construct a new kind of artistic image which differs from ordinary image. Lin Ke started exploring the new-found figure-ground relationship by method of moving picture soon after the revelation of ‘file folder’. Many video art works were loaded with contents and plots, but Lin Ke said that his moving folders and lines were inspired by his experiences of attending a class of body movement in Wenhui School. In other words, the differences of the works of Lin Ke and most videos lie in the fact that he is the discoverer of the motion pictures, not the creator. Through his body movements his body entered the films.
The title of the exhibition L in K resembles both his name Lin Ke and the English word ‘link’, which means hyperlink in the internet language. The exhibition includes most of his works since 2010, exhibits the fruits of his ‘linking’ to the internet, and defines him as a linker and a discoverer strolling in the visual world. He has edited a 60-minute projection film for the exhibition, to present his research and findings on image and internet. Audience can watch the Link world in a comfortable home-theater arrangement. And more importantly, the methods of his working – actually his playing – have also been exhibited in this film. The invitation to artist’s studio is so far the most democratic form of sharing and education, and perfectly embodies the spirit of the internet.
