Taiwan artist Lin Ching-ke is reviving traditional bamboo craft techniques with his intricate works of contemporary installation art.
A veteran industrial designer of 10 years and the owner of Gridesign Studio, Lin became fascinated by bamboo while learning hand working skills at the Ministry of Culture-overseen National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute in central Taiwan’s Nantou County as part of his graduate study program at Shih Chien University in Taipei City.
Among the artist’s latest pieces is the eye-catching “Thank You Bouquet” erected last December in Taipei’s Daan Forest Park. Consisting of 180 larger-than-life flowers fashioned from over 60,000 delicate bamboo strips, the installation—since moved to National Center for Traditional Arts in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County—was commissioned by a local charitable foundation to pay homage to front-line workers combating COVID-19.
“The Season of Wind,” bamboo, 2020
According to Lin, bamboo is a culturally representative material, and an affectionate connection to it still lingers in many Taiwanese hearts. He believes that familiarity and emotional association give it greater strength as a means of artistic expression.
Similarly, bamboo’s wide range of properties offers immense potential for imagination, Lin said. Having both grass- and wood-like qualities and coming in an array of heights and diameters, it is malleable enough to weave a basket and strong enough to build a house, he added.
Nevertheless, the preparation process is a painstaking job presenting a major challenge to aspiring crafts workers. The sheets and strips used in “Thank You Bouquet” took Lin and four other Gridesign members five months to complete and would have taken an additional two to three months longer if they had prepared the bamboo from scratch themselves.
Outsourcing the process to other workshops and factories in the country expedites creation at Gridesign while maintaining a healthy local bamboo industry.
With the goal of popularizing bamboo among members of the next generation, Lin and his team want to introduce new dexterity and perspectives.
Bamboo is an endlessly fascinating material for students and practitioners interested in fusing tradition and innovation, Lin said. It’s a medium at the junction of past and future, practical and abstract—an enduring relationship for an artist, he added. (DL-E) (By Pat Gao)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw
(This article is adapted from “Installing Tradition” in the March/April 2022 issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)