Lindi and Art Maybe
I KILLED THREE RABBITS AND TWO JELLY FISHES
I Killed Three Rabbits and Two Jelly Fishes is a participatory performance with handmade paper by Lindi Shi. The idea is inspired by her childhood experience with pets. In this project, Lindi made silver-black thin abaca paper with watermarks of five her pets: three rabbits and two jellyfishes. The audience is invited to sit in a circle. Each person was given a sheet of paper, and then Lindi sprayed those paper with water. Together the artist and the audience will felt the sheets by crumb them to small paper balls and reopen them. At the end of the performance, those sheets got completely dry and transformed into fabrics. As for the fate of the paper after the performance, Lindi asked the audience to keep their paper if and only if they promised to take good care of them. Otherwise, the paper returned to her as a portfolio.
RE:TOLD 再・度
Re: Told 再・度 is a long tern interactive project originated by Lindi Shi that started in 2018. Re: Told is about the actual interaction between the artist and her audiences. Until now, Lindi has practiced this project in both Madison, WI and Fukuoka, Japan. Lindi exhibited her original woodblock print The Story of the Furman, 2018. It is a 25 feet long handscroll depicting a narrative between a fury monster and two brothers. She invited people to view her scroll and write down what they think the narrative is on index cards. From the index cards, Lindi responded with what she thought the cards mean with her illustrations and miniature sculptures. Then the audience can write thoughts on new index cards according to the original scroll, past index cards and Lindi’s responding images. Now she is making images from the new index cards.
THE LOVEY TOWN PROJECT
Based in Madison, WI, founded in 2013, Lovey Town is a miniature, mobile project space originated by Michael Velliquette. Along with exhibitions of original artworks, Lovey Town is also a platform for gallery audiences to be included in the exhibitions in the form of photographic paper dolls. Lovey Town exists in multiple formats—through online photographic documentation, in print publications, as a physical exhibition space, and as a social practice where the viewing audience participates in the creation of a sculptural community.
Lindi is honoured to be one of the assistants in this project. Her job is to help Prof. Velliquette to take care of the gallery and make the paper dolls while the audience visit the galleries. At this point, she has already involved in three Lovey Town events in Madison area.
For more information, please check out the Lovey Town website below.
THE KING OF THE UNDERWORLD
The King of the Underworld is a participatory installation by Lindi Shi. The narrative is about a man who jumped into a hole on the ground and reached the bottom of the earth and became the king of the underworld. The audience is not only allowed to view the drawing about part of the narrative, but also manipulate the paper-crochet figures on the table to create customized sets. Their interaction with the figures is live stream projected in a frame.
BODY PRESS: SLOWING PRESSING WITH OUR BODIES
Body Press is Lindi Shi’s most recent communal project that started in late 2019. She said: “I love making paper, especially touching my fiber materials with my hand. Yet, given the name ‘handmade papermaking’, some machines are still involved, such as Hollander Beaters and hydraulic presses. Why still machine? From my experience, I have learned that each step in papermaking will affect the final result. How can I put myself in the paper? How can I, specifically Lindi, influence the finished piece?” Therefore, in this project, Lindi is using human bodies as a tool to complete a slow pressing process after the sheet formation. The audience is invited to create an increase in weight by their bodies. The pressing starts with the lightest person, and once a while, a heavier person or a combination of many people will join the pressing. The pressing ends when as many participants stand on the pressing board.
