Cheang Lin Yew, one of Malaysia's very first digital media designers, shares his journey in the creative, fast-developing environment, with Nur Zarina Othman
WITH Nike as his loyal client, and other big names such as Coke, Toshiba and Converse also under his belt, multimedia specialist Cheang Lin Yew is recognised for his creative work.
A veteran in this highly specialised field, Cheang has exhibited his works in various design and digital media festivals worldwide, and has received many awards.
EARLY YEARS
Born to a carpenter father, Cheang was exposed to the creative environment early in life. His passion for art was so strong that the youngest of five siblings enrolled in an art college after Form 5 despite having been in the science stream in secondary school.
His brother also convinced him to pursue his passion in this field despite misgivings from his mother and sister due to the uncertain economic environment at that time.
“I was the first one among my siblings to enrol in college, and later I graduated with a diploma in graphic design,” says Cheang, who is among One Academy’s pioneer batch of graduates.
Between 1997 and 1998 when multimedia design started to gain popularity, Cheang self-explored what was then termed multimedia art.
He was offered a tutor position at The One Academy (TOA) despite not having industry experience. He spent two years there before furthering his studies in New Zealand in the same field. After getting his degree, Cheang worked as a lecturer at the university where he had studied.
There, he was given the opportunity to conduct research and development on multimedia art based on his personal interest and, with encouragement from the university, Cheang received a research grant to do an art project with his colleagues.
“We sent our project (multimedia art project) to many art festivals all over the world and our work was accepted in many places, giving us the opportunity to travel the world.
“Our first exhibition was in Melbourne and it was a success. Next, we sent our artwork to the International Symposium of Electronic Arts in Helsinki where it was also well accepted,” says Cheng.
“At the same time we received a grant from the university which was good exposure for me. It gave me the confidence to continue with interactive installation. This was before I made my decision to move to Shanghai,” says the 46-year-old artist who looks up to Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama as his inspiration.
CHALLENGES
In 2007, Cheang decided to move to Shanghai with his family. Two years prior, he had received an invitation to be part of an art festival in Beijing which opened his eyes to China as the best place to be in when it came to the creative industry.
“I saw many young talents hungry for new things. One of my students in New Zealand who went back to Shanghai also encouraged me to check out the scene there,” he says.
The father of two took the risk with another colleague, a Malaysian from Kota Baru, to make the move to Shanghai.
It was in that same year (winter 2007) China had the worst snow storm where all transportation was halted, adding to the duo's frustrations. And it took them more than a year to adjust to their new work place.
“Just like any struggling artist with no industry background and a relatively new product, we had to literally knock on doors to get our art noticed, but most agencies were not convinced,” says Cheang, who is co-founder of Super Nature Design, a Shanghai-based multi-discipline design studio specialising in interactive installations, experiential design, sculptural lighting systems, interactive design and print graphics.
However, there's always light at the end of the tunnel, and one client saw the potential in them and they had their first project, an interactive art installation for green architecture.
However, it left them in deeper trouble as the client failed to pay. But things took a turn for the better when a friend who was working for a brand agency called them to tell them about Adidas' Olympic campaign and sub-contracted the project to them.
“We did an installation for the Adidas flagship store in Beijing, promoting 26 pairs of shoes representing the number of sports contested.
“We took three months to complete the project, but the market was very quiet. During the silence, we decided to come up with more installations and placed them in many international design portals and got them published.
“It didn't take long before we began receiving calls from event agencies and clients themselves,” says Cheang. They continued sending their artwork to design portals and took part in art festivals to strengthen their foothold in the digital media art arena.
TECHNOLOGY IS THE FUTURE
Despite the difficulties he faced, Cheang is determined to always say no every time new clients ask for a catalogue or a past project reference. To him, it is always better to come up with a new product.
“Every time people ask if we have a catalogue, my answer is no. I always ask for their ideas and concept as I feel it is better to create new, fresh art for each client,” he says. “Even though we faced challenges, I see them as a way to explore new technology and things. By creating new artwork, you can push your creativity, create new limits, and try different things.
“The technology is there but how you use them, how you apply them changes, depending on your creativity. From there we learnt, explored and gained new knowledge,” says Cheang, who is Head of Department at the School of Multimedia Design in his alma mater.
His favourite installation is a light sculpture which hangs above the bar of The Nest, a gastro lounge at Rock Bund Shanghai, which received the Best Lounge of the Year vote for three consecutive years.
Cheang says the owner was uncertain during the work process, but was stunned by the outcome. “He didn't say it, but he was so amazed that he stared at the art piece the entire night.”
Despite having his works exhibited at various design and digital media festivals worldwide, Cheang is unsure of where digital media will be in the future, given that technology changes so fast.
“I cannot predict what digital media art would be like in future, but I'm sure it's going to evolve into a great one,” says the winner of the Best Creative Design — Shanghai International Art and Science Awards, Shanghai 2015.
Cheang's advice to younger artists is “to never underestimate the importance of creativity or art and design. Equip yourself with knowledge of technology and you will have a very bright future. Don't be intimidated, own it and apply it.”