As a textile artist, I love to use my artworks to communicate both ideas and information.

Nowadays we live in an information explosion era. We are surrounded by too much information, for example, there are hundreds of thousands of free newspapers distributed and then thrown away on the underground every day. We are overloaded with the news and continue to waste lots of resources including paper as well. The question for many of us is: how long will we continue to follow this destructive lifestyle?

To create my contemporary stories, I read newspapers every day and tried to interpret the current issues according to my own ideas.

I employed a specialist textile medium—newspaper yarns—to imply someone told modern stories. I am interested in employing newspaper years as narrative material because the viewer can feel the amiable meaning of the words in the newspaper.

1.      Live Under Pressure
Once there was a man. He studied and worked hard because he was seeking a so-called ‘wonderful future’. He thought that only by earning a lot of money could he live a life filled with happiness. Therefore, he lived under constant pressure. He busied himself with work…
2.      Endless Desires
One day he found by chance a magic lamp which can realize any wish he wants. However, when he makes a wish, 10 trees will be destroyed. It means therefore that one wish costs 10 trees. He thought ‘there are too many trees in the world. It is not a big deal if I just take some of them.’
3.      The Disappearance of Natural Resources
One month passed. Two months passed.
One year passed. Two years passed.
He became lazier and lazier because he found that the magic lamp could help him do anything. He quit his job. He did not want to do anything but lie on the sofa.
One day, he wanted to make another wish, but…
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Everything had vanished. His house was left in ashes! He quickly realised that everywhere was in a terrible mess! He had exhausted almost all the World’s natural resources!
4.      Möbius Strip—Change
Suddenly he woke up!
‘Oh, it was only a dream’ he cried ‘But it seemed so real.’
‘Maybe it was not simply a dream’ he thought.
After this terrible nightmare, he decided to change his lifestyle. He tried to live an eco-friendly way of life.
5.      A New Life—Happiness
Finally he found that he was truly happy. He never felt so relaxed and content. This lifestyle was the one he had been seeking …

Newspaper yarn is a type of special material, which is full of emotions and messages. I used the newspaper yarns to make artworks which were made of newspapers from 2011. They recorded and preserved the news and memories at the time. After this year, it will be almost impossible to find a large amount of newspapers from 2011. These artworks resemble vintage wines and antiques. As time passes by, you cannot find them anymore. Therefore, each work is unique and worth spending a lot of time to produce. Moreover, knitting is symbolic of a slow craft—time for reflection—knitting in a message.
The life of newspapers has been transformed into something of greater value. Newspapers which leave the paper recycling circle, can not only be discarded nor recycled, but also can be upcycled to a piece of a beautiful artwork. When enjoying these newspaper artworks, I would like audiences to rethink the value and use of newspapers and their relationship with human beings.

Chia-Shan Lee
website: www.chiashanlee.com
email: chiashan@ymail.com