House Hold Goods Ι 

1992, Guangzhou; 180x700x40cm, brick, metal net

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Lin Yilin created "Equipment for Living", another installation, extending over an entire hall and several rooms. On low brick plinths he built imaginary walls from reinforcement mats. Above the brick wall foundation, which represented the old culture, he used modern building materials. On the one hand the cage-like grilles conveyed a feeling of depression, but on the other hand they gave a modern, technological impression due to their openness. Opacity and transparency, fullness and emptiness are standard aesthetic principles of Chinese art. Lin Yilin's "wall sculptures" use the surrounding space and even break through walls if necessary. The ironic title "Equipment for Living"relates to several household machines for the cleaning of waste pipes, "imprisoned" in the grille cages. Above them float some brick blocks and two flexible aluminium tubes which look like pieces of intestines. By combining such ordinary objects, he emphasizes the social and external elements within the work. 

-- Juliane Noth & Wolfger Pöhlmann

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