Marvin Lin is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and editor-in-chief of music webzine Tiny Mix Tapes. He has served as an editor for Pitchfork and the University of Minnesota’s alternative magazine The Wake, and authored the 33 1/3 book Radiohead’s Kid A. His commissioned writings for the Walker include a look at the Walker Shop's Intangibles product line and an examination of musical microgenres and criticism in an era of "expiring aesthetics."
Marvin Lin
Widening the Scope: On Intangibility, Embodiment, and Ephemerality
In 2015, the Walker Shop released Intangibles—a line of products and artworks with no physical form. Participating artists and designers included Martine Syms, Alec Soth, CFCF, and K-HOLE. Here author Marvin Lin responds to the collection, suggesting that we “rethink our bias toward physical objects and re-envision our aesthetics on a grander timeline, offering lateral pathways that cut through the level of tangibility and place us on new timescales altogether.”
Expiring Aesthetics
In a time of digital hyperacceleration and an ever-shifting technocultural landscape, we encounter an influx of trends, microgenres, and fads. But how do we talk about music when so much of what we listen to feels transitory and historically inconsequential? Marvin Lin explores our critical voice in the face of such expiring aesthetics.