18. Artistic research 4

Lee Mingwei

The project consists of an installation where the artist prepared a table, two chairs and colourful spools of thread. During gallery hours the initiator was welcoming visitors who could bring their damaged textile articles or clothes and what the artist while he mended the article. The mended textile was then placed on the table and visitors were invited to return to the galley to collect their objects at the end of the exhibition.

The goal was to gain insights into the relationships among self, other and immediate surroundings. It also constituted an act of sharing between the initiator and a stranger.

The gesture of mending for me has different levels of meaning. The most obvious is that a piece of clothing is broken and needs repair. It could also be in completely different conversation about how the world is today. There are so many things that are broken in the world now, with politics, the climate, relationships between people, between countries. Can we do something about it? I know I am just an artist and all I can do at this moment is something close to me. So let me start with our second skin: the clothes that we are wearing.

— Lee MingweiI

https://www.leemingwei.com/