Feijing Lin

Feijing is a graphic designer based in China and London. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from the University of the Arts London. Feijing is fascinated by using abstract methods to smash our most familiar daily world into fragments and reshape them into a concentrated ‘microcosm’ imbued with passion.

In her practice she takes advantage of her varied experiences in image-making, material exploration and photography, to share her passion, motivation and the different perspectives that can bring to an audience

Her work has been exhibited in New Horizons Young Designers Exhibition, Zhuhai, China (2020) and Camberwell ‘Cmd + Stitch’ Fashion Show, London (2019).

Death is loss. Death is pain, grief, homage and a durational philosophical problem. It is a myth that tolls a strange fascination for me.

Remembrance, complicated, and paternal love are the keywords that have driven my practice this year. Father is a complex word in the past tense for me. A paternal love may not be as delicate as maternal love, but it is deep love.

My work aims to convey my emotion about my father since his passing. He had his dreams, his ambitions, his warm small family and his happiest daughter on earth. Our deep sadness comes from the discontinuation of everything and the impossible chasm between life and death.

But I know he is with me, at every important moment, including now. He would like to know how happy and how sad I am, he would make the impossible possible as he always does, and he would answer my phone call.

The Unavailable Number — Background, media item 1

The Unavailable Number — Background, media item 2

The memory of the red landline telephone has significant meaning to me. The landline telephone installed in my house used to carry the warmest moments, and every phone call brought me closer to him.

My dad was on a business trip for a long time and I deeply missed his voice. I had not talked to him in nearly a week. So my mum called his phone and encouraged me to speak to him. At that moment, I realised the connection between my father and me was closer than before. After that, my father called me when he was not busy at work. Whenever I think about this memory I feel touched, because he was a serious person and I was afraid of him when I was little.

I believe the landline telephone is not just a daily object, but that it carries the warm moments of my father and me. It is also an important object that brings me closer to my father. No matter what memories I forgot, I never forgot about my father’s phone call. If there was one more chance in my life I would call him to hear his voice again, because this moment is my desire.

The Unavailable Number — The Book, media item 1

The Unavailable Number — The Book, media item 2

The Unavailable Number — The Book, media item 3

The Unavailable Number — The Book, media item 4

The Unavailable Number — The Book, media item 5

The function of this book as a visual medium, it tells the story of this landline telephone, which is closely related to the memory of my father. The book describes a person entering a strange room and answering a phone call, then accidentally triggering the secret of the landline telephone when this person puts down the receiver. I wrote this book from a first-person perspective.

The size of the book is B5 portrait.

I made the supernatural telephone using 3D printing, computer programming and machine learning. In the process of randomness and certainty, this is a channel of communication with people long deceased. Hearing his voice is a desire, and talking to him is my wish. The interactive telephone provides an opportunity for audiences to ask a question to their loved one.

The Unavailable Number — The Telephone, media item 2

The Unavailable Number — The Telephone, media item 3

The Unavailable Number — The Telephone, media item 4

The Unavailable Number — The Telephone, media item 5

Audiences are encouraged to pick up the receiver and ask one question. Their voices are recognised and processed using machine learning. This information is ‘hashed’ into random 0s and 1s to match sentences in a designed word-bank. This random process is where ‘supernatural power’ acts.

A meaningful response of the audience’s question is automatically generated and visualised on a leaflet which is produced through the connected printer.

The Unavailable Number — The Leaflet, media item 1

The Unavailable Number — The Leaflet, media item 2

The leaflet is also an important part for the interactive telephone installation. It is where people can get responses from the supernatural telephone. The design of the leaflet uses a soft black and white colour with simple, elegant fonts. The result of the printed leaflet was kept simple to match the book design.

The size of the leaflet is A5 portrait.

This is a handmade hollow-carved design in A3 size, utilising all the above art elements as the overall productivity of the ‘No Mud’ at the present stage.

You walk by the river, watching the water flow east,

The river breaks and the mirror reflects you back.

The flowing water witnessed this moment,

The flowing water passes you by…

At this river, people bring their children to visit this green landscape. Children feed the ducks, couples walk side by side, and some sit on memorial benches. From 1860 to 1934, it became a warm area for people. No matter what happens outside, people can always feel calm in the familiar scenery.

We reveal our spiritual nature and true selves in this familiarity. The voices and pictures from the past are a way to reach deep into time and these help me to understand how people thought of the New River Walk previously. People wrote poems to praise its beauty, people also complained about the stinky odour. All poets and complainers have passed away; the old wallets carrying these pictures have been lost. But I witnessed their most familiar scenery, and I saw an invisible bridge that connects to the past, present and the future.

Every little tree and corner has become the witness to several generations of people passing by. These layers illustrate the breaking up of time in miniature, remembered, then forgotten. ‘No Mud’ at the river bottom, only you and me carried by this endless river flow.

Community Green Landscape History Nature Photography Time & Space writing

The photo collection — These images recorded the precious time of countless people in the New River Walk and where processed by texture noising.

The voices from the past — These voices were found in various newspapers.People expressed their true feelings through writings. These voices witnessed the development process of the New River Walk and demonstrated the close relationship between people and the river.

Drawing out the shapes — Experiments in drawing the shapes of the New River Walk in different periods. The lined & hollowed papercuts demonstrate three life stages of the New River Walk. Each one enriches the development of that time span through the ‘endless bottom-cutout’ approach.

People's reviews of the New River Walk. These two images are experiments with the composition of the heading title and the text placement.

Feijing Lin

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Royal College of Art