“Moving Garden,” an interactive art installation by internationally renowned Taiwanese artist Lee Ming-wei, will be on display in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum of Art from Oct. 5, 2011 to Jan. 22, 2012.
The work is comprised of a 13.7-meter-long granite table with flowers springing from a crevice that runs along the center of the piece for its entire length. Visitors are invited to take a flower as they leave the museum on condition that they present it as a gift to a passing stranger on the way to their next destination. The flowers are replaced at the start of each day, symbolizing the boundlessness of life.
Lee said the piece was inspired by Lewis Hyde’s “The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property,” which discusses the positive effects of giving gifts, on both the giver and receiver. Another inspiration was the exquisite sight of countless flowers floating downstream that he witnessed during a spring walk along the banks of the Rhone River in Lyon, France.
Lee, who came to prominence in the 1990s, has produced a number of participatory artworks over his career. One of the more notable was “The Dining Project” in 1997, which involved inviting members of the community to come dine with him one-on-one in his art studio. His more recent works include “Guernica in Sand” (2008), “The Mending Project” (2009) and “Trilogy of Sounds” (2010).
Born in Taiwan in 1964, Lee resides in New York City. He received his bachelor’s degree from California College of the Arts and his master’s from Yale University’s School of Art.
His works have been displayed in Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S.
The art installation at the Brooklyn Museum is being sponsored in part by the Taipei Cultural Center in New York to celebrate the ROC Centennial.
