CHINATOWN 20/20, 2005
Jean Shin: Chinatown 20/20
Prescription eyeglasses
4 ft h x 8 ft w
2005
Commissioned by the Asian Arts Initiative/PEW Foundation, Philadelphia for the exhibition Chinatown In/flux
Jean Shin designed panels with eyeglass pieces for storefront businesses in Chinatown. The interactive window panels present viewers with little peepholes into the day-to-day interior scenes of various shops and offices: at the same time, the prescription lenses obscure viewers’ ability to see this reality clearly. The framed prescription lenses are a paradox, both blurring the scenes on the other side of the wall and bringing them into a kind of ambiguous focus. The work suggests that there is not one correct vision of Chinatown.