May 3 – June 3, 2012

Breathing
Installation by Chin Chih Yang

The artist Chin Chih Yang has dedicated himself to open our eyes to the unimaginable amount of waste produced in this society, and the perils and dangers this accumulated waste presents for all life on this planet.

He creates enormous installations constructed out of thousands of aluminum cans and industrial waste; the sheer volume these installations take up are an unnerving comment on the simple act of buying a can of soda. At the same time Chin Chih dignifies the cans and waste materials by turning his constructions into luminous, magical palaces, using colored lights from within the construction.

Breathing, the installation at FiveMyles, uses large amounts of recyclable materials: used tubing from hospital oxygen masks and industrial cables as well as other waste found around the city: aluminum cans, discarded sandwich containers, plastic bottles, etc. Chin Chih arranges these materials according to the aesthetic principles of perhaps giant bird nests, i.e. everything seems essential for holding the construction together.

For the artist the use of tubing from oxygen masks in this construction is of particular significance. The masks preserved the health of a human being, and as waste they add to the death of the earth. And yet this tubing, along with the other waste materials, gives pleasure through Chin Chih Yang’s incredible constructions.

Chin Chih Yang has confronted and delighted the public with his recycling message and his interactive performances in Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, Union Square Park, Queens Museum, Chelsea Museum, Godwin-Ternbach Museum and Exit Art, and internationally in Taiwan, Poland, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The exhibition is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Brooklyn Community Foundation and by the Brooklyn Arts Council, JPMorgan/Chase.

Directions: Take 2,3,4 or 5 train to Franklin Ave. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin, turn left into St. Johns Place. Walk ¾ block to FiveMyles.