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This practice-led artistic research is conducted from the perspective of a Taiwanese Indigenous artist, drawing on the territorial knowledge of the Puyuma people alongside Taiwan’s geopolitical survival strategies to explore freedom of movement through a series of artworks and interventions.

Sculpture of a light blue orb, pitted like the moon, sitting on a glass plate, etched with a map (?), against a white wall.
Luna Mare, Shao-Jie Lin, 2024, sculpture cast from paper pulped from the high seas of world map

©the artist

Using material metaphors, these works aim to expose the limitations, contradictions, and absurdities within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, contrasting its ideals with lived realities to reveal hidden injustices and prevent them from becoming entrenched hierarchies in international contexts.

The research also traces the evolution of freedom of movement, analysing its mechanisms and current challenges through Foucault’s concept of ‘biopolitics’, thereby uncovering the complexities and inherent barriers within this fundamental right.

Ultimately, this research aims to expand discourses on neo freedom of movement and post-identity, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression while contributing meaningful insights toward a more just and equitable world through an interdisciplinary, multi-layered approach.

Website: https://shaojielin.tumblr.com
Instagram: spectacular_agency

Supervisors

Primary supervisor: Simon Faithfull
Secondary supervisors: Nishat Aswan, Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan, Hayley Newman

  1. Left
    From the Bottom of Our Hearts - handkerchiefs printed from international maritime signal flags: You Are Not Welcome / So Nice Not to Meet You / Wish You Were Not Here / Never See You Again
    From the Bottom of Our Hearts - handkerchiefs printed from international maritime signal flags: You Are Not Welcome / So Nice Not to Meet You / Wish You Were Not Here / Never See You Again, Shao-Jie Lin, 2018, Digital Print Installation

    Shao-Jie Lin

    Right
  2. Left
    Passport to Everywhere
    Passport to Everywhere, Shao-Jie Lin, 2018, paper pulped from expired German, Japanese, Korean, Kuwaiti, Mauritian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Singaporean, British and American passports

    Oskar Proctor

    Right
  3. Left
    The Road on which the Sun Never Sets
    The Road on which the Sun Never Sets, Shao-Jie Lin, 2019, video installation

    Alexander Christie

    Right
  4. Left
    Postcards from Nowhere
    Postcards from Nowhere, Shao-Jie Lin, 2018, paper pulped from landing cards refused by the UK Border Agency

    Oskar Proctor

    Right
  5. Left
    Breeze of Peace
    Breeze of Peace, Shao-Jie Lin, 2018, windsock sewn from white flags and medical bandages

    Shao-Jie Lin

    Right