mel chin

  • Operation of the Sun through the Cult of the Hand

    Operation of the Sun through the Cult of the Hand


    1987
    70 varieties of traditional to arcane materials and chemicals
    10 x 17 x 60 feet

    A mythic, alchemic, scientific investigation into the origins of words, materials, and form, from Chinese and Greek sources. Based on the solar system, astrophysics, exploratory data from Pioneer 10 and Mariner 4, and rare books on the subject of alchemy.

    Mercury: The Principle of Polarity –The Orbital Rebus
    wood, magnet made from everyday metal


    Mercury: ball
    copper, nickel, brass, steel, iron, rare earth metals


    Venus: Conjunction & Entrapment
    left leaning oyster in a heart-shaped puzzle of copper, steel shucker, net shaped like the Ys and Cs, cuprous nitrate used to patina metal

    (lower) Earth: Ceration & Putrefaction
    delta-shaped “core” sample of iron, steel, granite, twigs, fungi, bark, earth, wax
    (upper) Mars: Fixation and Desecration
    chiseled steel, camellia oil, olive branches embedded in clay, arranged in the shaped of the Chinese character “Fa”

    Jupiter: Circulation & Self Sacrifice
    hand blown glass, red oak, silk

    Saturn: Deception & Digestion
    rawhide, lead(Pb) with vein patterns from human head, salt

    Uranus: Castration and Concealment
    Chinese paper, gauze, mud, ash, spikes, brad, squid ink, Chinese silk, cherry, chalk

    Uranus (detail)

    Neptune: Filtration, Purification, and Desire
    bronze, black gorgonian fan coral, cast wax, cannabis


    Pluto: Projection & Permutation
    coal, helmet of alchemic gold (arsenic, copper, manganese), more

  • (Belief/Punishment) Yaqin Saza (for Jam Saqi)

    (Belief/Punishment) Yaqin Saza (for Jam Saqi)


    1986
    books, asphalt with hair and glass fiber, encaustic, paper, steel, rivets, wood
    53 x 75 x 9 inches

    Jam Saqi is a Pakistani poet and novelist who was incarcerated for nine years. His crime was possession of what the Zia regime had deemed “banned political literature.” Chin became aware of this case through the efforts of Amnesty International, and this work was executed and subsequently auctioned to raise funds for the organization.

    The title of the work, as well as the form, is derived from Urdu, the official literary language of Pakistan.

    The words, belief: and punishment: , served as visual and conceptual catalysts from which the final visual interpretations emerged.

    Ruined books, tarred, imbedded with screws, hog hair and nails, then banded and riveted with steel, address the loss, damage and disservice to the history of ideas and information that come with suppression. The painted image of a book at its center confirms the intangible yet indestructible nature of belief, the presence and survival of conviction in a desert of waste.

    The club, “bandaged” with paper to call to mind the tormented skin of a figure of a man, implies not only the capacity of a weapon to inflict pain, but how it can become emblematic of unjustified punishment. Here the wrapped likeness of a flayed man presents the capacity for torture to disfigure the body as well as distort human will to serve its purpose.

  • Oyster Stick

    Oyster Stick


    1986
    oysters, string, wood, paper labels

    Residual shells of “right leaning” oysters, named and organized following a mollusk eating binge to uncover a “left leaning oyster”, as described by Ge Hong (283-343 AD) in his book: Baopuzi [Book of the] Master Who Embraces Simplicity.

  • Bait Battle [by Mo’ Jones]

    Bait Battle [by Mo’ Jones]


    1985
    scrap wood, glue, string and wire

    In an attempt to enlarge his capacity to respond to materials in a less calculated way, Chin adopted the persona of Mo’ Jones to create objects from an alternate perspective.

  • Alligator Gar [by Mo’ Jones]

    Alligator Gar [by Mo’ Jones]


    1985
    wood, silicone, tacks

    In an attempt to enlarge his capacity to respond to materials in a less calculated way, Chin adopted the persona of Mo’ Jones to create objects from an alternate perspective.

  • Tornado and Suction Vortices

    Tornado and Suction Vortices


    1985
    graphite and wash on pounced paper
    14 x 11 1/2 inches

    A weathered weather drawing.