Lin Da
Opening space, 2023, Performance and installation
The artwork is exhibited in the Kuva/Tila gallery on the 1st floor of the Mylly building.
Introduction
What is it like to touch with a belly button? What kind of a place is the navel? Where does it lead?
Opening space comprises two parts, the first of which is an installation made up of belly button sculptures and documented discussions. The second part is a performance focusing on the study of the navel through touch and movement.
I study the navel as an opening space, and its relative similarity to other openings of the human body. The scarified surface of the navel speaks to me as a haunting trace of a connection to another human, reminding us of humanity’s fundamental dependency of one to the other. My work observes what this body part says about itself in the form of sculpture, and also what begins to happen in the interaction between the sculpted object and the living body in an installation situation. The performance explores the agency of a belly button and studies the navel as the first mouth of the body.
Last winter I was seeking volunteers through an open invitation letter to participate in the developing process of the work; people with an interest in formulating a practice that centers around the belly button, touch, and movement. During this spring the volunteers and I started to work together as a group, and we will share the results of this process in the form of a performance on three days, taking place on 14.5., 21.5. and 28.5. at 2 pm.
About the artist
Artist Lin Da was born in 1987 in Vantaa.