Invited by the renowned Japanese curator Fram Kitagawa, Lin Shuen-Long repeatedly participated in the Setouchi Triennial in Japan, creating the groundbreaking Beyond the Border series with the DADA IDEA team. Based on ingenious conception, form, and choice of material, this series attempts to transcend national and cultural boundaries, resonating with the viewer.
In this series, the iconic Beyond the Border: Ocean (2013-2016) incarnates imagery of sailing, migration, and womb. With a giant structure of driftwood in the form of a Barringtonia acutangula seed, the work is laid on a beach against a blue sky. The scene was shown on the cover of the catalogue of the Setouchi Triennale in 2016, and the work was included in school textbooks in Japan.
The “seed boat” shape of this work was inspired by seeds of the Indian Barringtonia floating from the Philippines, passing by Taiwan and Okinawa to arrive Japan.
