Mel Chin

Next stop on the artist train is Mel Chin. Mel Chin was born in 1951 in Texas as the soon of immigrants. He grew up in a predominantly black and Latino community. His artwork has been motivated by political, social and environmental issues that have come up over the years. However, instead of simply commenting these problems like many other artist do his work actually involves solving the problems. A good example of this would be his "Revival Field." In this piece he creates a piece of art using plants that are designed to remove heavy metals from the ground. So this piece not only comments on the problem and how to solve it but it also partakes in the solution. Looking over his career much of his other work does the same thing. They all take a problem and solve it in a artistic way. Whats great about his stuff is that he doesn't limit himself to one particular area of interest. He has been know to creates pieces and help out in places were ever he sees a problem. This could be in the middle of a suburb or several miles out of town. Because of this his work seems to more focus on the actual problem at hand then about getting attention. He once commented that making art is all about making choices. Whether it is the choice of were to make the artwork and what it should be about. Chin has clearly made the choice to use his artwork as a guide for people. A way to influence people into making smart choices that are beneficial to society.