THE CONTEMPORARY MUSEUM Michael Ming Hong Lin's court installation includes tennis players as part of the artwork.

Painter to use tennis
court as canvas

Acclaimed Taiwanese artist Michael Ming Hong Lin is transforming a tennis court into an art experience and is offering tennis players the chance to become a moving part of his latest installation.

Lin, with help from local artists, is painting over the former tennis court of the Contemporary Museum's Spalding House. "Tennis Dessus" ("Tennis from Above"), which opens today, incorporates a floral motif designed especially for Hawaii.

Lin will use the work as the setting for a film he is producing locally, the first time that the artist has incorporated film into his installations.

Museum visitors will be able to play one-hour games on the court for the duration of the exhibition, beginning May 17. They will become part of the work, bringing action to Lin's design.

The tennis court installation is part of the museum's "02 Art" project that brings internationally acclaimed artists together with local artists to create installations, performances and other presentations. Their work is not confined to the museum's galleries, however, and has been grounded in such "unconventional spaces" as the tennis court.

Lin, born in Taiwan but raised in Japan and the United States, has earned an international reputation as one of the leading practitioners of large-scale, site-specific installation art. His designs are typically inspired by traditional Chinese and Japanese textile patterns commonly found in the Taiwanese home.