Meditations on 50 Objects: A Collaborative Performative Drawing and Soundscape
Brickyard, Mutianyu China

A collaborative performative drawing using found objects and found sounds, the culmination of a month-long artist residency and fellowship at the Brickyard in Beigou Village, near Mutianyu China in the shadow of the Great Wall.  Over the course of an hour, artists Joe Hedges and Jiemei Lin will collaborate on a floor drawing that makes use of ink and various materials and objects collected in and around Baigou village.  During the creation of the drawing, sounds recorded in and around the village are remixed live into an evolving soundscape that echoes and compliments the drawing.  The work explores the connections between material and auditory culture while celebrating the uniqueness of village life in Baigou.  Visitors are invited to come and go as they please during the creation of the piece.  The performance coincided with a pop-up exhibition at the artist residence, exploring similar themes.  

Meditations on 50 Objects

Meditations on 50 Objects

About the Artists

Jiemei Lin was born and raised in Hanzhou, China, an ancient epicenter of culture and contemporary locus of technological innovation; Joe Hedges grew up in a small farm town in Ohio surrounded by corn fields and cows.  Lin and Hedges met in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, United States and developed a friendship rooted in critical creative exploration and cultural exchange.  That relationship blossomed into a marriage and lifelong partnership that spurred various curatorial and fine art exhibitions and performances at venues including The Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and 798 Art District in Beijing.  

Individually, Lin’s works frequently take on themes of individual and cultural identity with a keen eye for design and color while Hedges’ paintings, prints, installations and web projects explore the links between science and art through the visual language of the experiment and the archive.  

Hedges and Lin are currently living in eastern Washington State where they are supported by Washington State University: Hedges coordinates the painting program as Assistant Professor of Painting/Intermedia, looking at painting as a form of media technology and exploring ways painting can interface with other disciplines and media; Lin is a designer for the Washington State University College of Education, where she embraces her love of education and creativity to make interactive projects that engage local, regional and global communities of students and scholars.