A n in t e r v i ew w i t h
co n t e m p o r a r y a r t i s t
M e l Chin
T
o celebrate the
centennial of the
Panama Canal,
the Mint Museum
has assembled
“Connecting
the World: The Panama
Canal at 100.” The exhibit
features an original steam
shovel used during the
Canal’s excavation and
more than 50 pieces dating
back to the opening of the
canal in 1914. In addition,
the Mint commissioned
an original short story
by Anthony Doerr and,
with grant support from
the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation, a new
art installation by Mel Chin
called “SEA to SEE.”
A former McColl Center
Artist-in-Residence, Chin
is known for exploring
complex ideas through
large-scale, collaborative
projects. With his
art, he comments on
historical events and their
aftermaths.
In “SEA to SEE,” for
example, Chin uses light,
sound and film to artfully
translate 100 years of
scientific data. When
visitors walk through the
piece, they will learn
about the Panama Canal’s
impact on the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. Specifically,
visitors will experience the
changes in things like the
oceans’ water depth, coral
conditions, current speeds
and oxygen levels.
“We were thrilled with his
ambitious proposal that
touched on both the way
that the Canal connects
the world and the changes
in the oceans that it
bridges over the past 100
years,” says Dr. Jonathan
Stuhlman, the Mint’s senior
12 – My School Rocks! | November 2014
curator of American,
modern and contemporary
art.
Rockin’ Reporters Dakota
and Oliver had previously
participated in Chin’s
national campaign,
“The Fundred Dollar Bill
Project.” The project
engages local communities
to create “fundreds,” or
creative drawings of $100
bills. The goal: to help
prevent childhood lead
poisoning and to someday
exchange more than a
million fundreds for real
donations.
Oliver and Dakota met with
Chin at the Mint Museum
during the construction
of “SEA to SEE” just days
before the opening of the
“Connecting the World”
exhibit.
The
following
interview
has been
edited for
brevity.
Why did you
want to be an
artist?
I think I’m always
in the state of
becoming an artist.
I think it’s something
that keeps changing.
With each new
project, I advance.
Why do you like art
so much?
I think it’s an alternative
and an option to all the
bad things we see or that
are considered bad in our
world. It’s about options
that don’t exist yet. That’s
why I think it’s important.
What is your favorite
project, and why?
I can’t pick favorites,
because what if I said I
like “SEE to SEA” more
than “Fundred Dollar Bill
Project”? I think each of
our projects are different. I
think variety is the spice of
life. Maybe the variety of
what I do is spicy and tasty.
What five words of
advice do you have for
young artists?
Look out, don’t stop now.
How long do your pieces
normally take?
They can take sometimes
30 seconds to conceive,
and can take 10 years to
execute. Sometimes they
can slowly develop over
a year or two, and be
completed in a month. So,
it’s one way or another.
Depends on the project.
What is your inspiration,
and why?
A lot of times we talk about
art as being what inspires
you. Now, these days, I
feel like I’m compelled to
act. There are things I see
that as a person, perhaps,
compel me to act instead
of not do it.
it becomes a collaborative
project that I can’t really
claim to be all mine. So, it
depends.
data mapping and I’m
trying to turn it into
abstractions of flowing
currents of water.
Do you use abstract or
renderings of real-world
objects more?
At what age did you
start doing art?
I use both. In this case, with
“SEA to SEE,” I’m taking
scientific, oceanographic
They say I was drawing by
the time I was 3. But that’s
just rumors.
Why did you decide to
pursue art as a career?
I don’t think I pursue art as
a career. It’s more just been
a way of living.
What art form do you
use most, and why?
The art form I use most
is something called
concept. I’m considered
a conceptual artist. But
it doesn’t mean I just sit
around and think of things.
I like to materialize them
after I have the concept
or idea. So, if it needs
to be an installation to
talk about conditions of
the oceans, it will be an
installation. If it needs to be
a collaborative project like
“Fundred Dollar Bill,” then
www.myschoolrocks.com | My School Rocks!
13
The Panama Canal is a huge, Americanled STEM project that took 10 years to
complete. It is a ship canal that creates a
shorter and easier way to travel between
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It first
opened on August 15, 1914, and a new
expansion is currently under way.
How do you incorporate natural
elements into your art?
Natural elements are very important
because I look into their history
and what they mean, culturally. The
reasons I would choose whether
it’s bronze or metal or glass, there
are real reasons, because there is
a whole cultural relationship with
materials. The steam shovel that the
curator brought in, it was actually in
the dirt of the canal, digging it up.
You can expand your imagination
to those relationships. But there are
real relationships that give you clues
of what material to use. Because
they can speak as well.
What inspired you to get involved
with this particular installation?
When we talk about the awesome
history of the Panama Canal, which
is considerable, I started to look at it
in a very contrary way. I said maybe
100 years of focus on this incredible
human event … were enough. It
would be covered by the rest of
the exhibition. Maybe we needed
to further think of what flanks the
Panama Canal, our oceans, which
are in dire situations right now.
14 – My School Rocks! | November 2014
Want to Go?
“Connecting the World: The
Panama Canal at 100”
Through Feb. 1, 2015
Mint Museum Uptown at Levine
Center for the Arts, 500 S. Tryon St.
mintmuseum.org | 704.337.2000
Admission: Free to museum
members; special exhibition fees
apply to nonmembers. Special
exhibition fees reduced each
Wednesday, 5-9 p.m.
ROCKIN’ REPORTERS
In Their Own Words
I learned that art can be anything –
whether it’s on a piece of paper, a
napkin or an entire wall.
My hobbies are drawing and playing
with Legos. I’m involved in the Boy
Scouts, and I’m in the chess club
and the Imagination chapter.
OLIVER
D A K O TA
Fourth grade, Shamrock Gardens
Elementary
I learned that art is an important
thing that can change the
world. I like to play baseball,
I like bunnies and I’m in the
Imagination chapter.
Fourth grade, Shamrock Gardens
Elementary