Visit her digital museum, view her exhibits,
hear her poems and flush the toilet,
all the work of Lin Hsin Hsin.

SOME might think that computer technology, with its rigid bits and bytes, has no place in art, the unbridled expression of the human emotion.

But Singaporean artist-poet Lin Hsin Hsin begs to differ.

"Art is creative and information technology is innovative. "The thinking processes are the same. There are many ways to achieve the same result for both," says the artist..

Lin, one of Singapore's pioneer digital artists, began to harness the properties of technology in creating digital art nearly a decade ago, even before PC drawing software such as Adobe popped up in the market.

Instead of using morphing software to create art, she produces works painstakingly with a mouse or by using programs she wrote herself.

The results are digital art pieces with three-dimensional textures and fluid lines that resemble brush strokes.

The holder of degrees in mathematics and computer science has also devised mathematical formulae to produce artwork on computers.

Lin, who is an information technologist by day, has held 15 solo shows and participated in more than 190 group exhibitions and art festivals in 20 countries over the last 20 years. Four years ago, she set up her own art museum called Lin Hsin Hsin Art Museum on the Net at http://www.lhham.com.sg to showcase her works. The virtual museum, which comes complete with a cafe, a museum shop, an eye massage parlour and even a toilet that flushes, has received half a million visitors so far.

Every sound emitted during a tour of the museum, says Lin, was created by herself.

"For example, I didn't just download others' sound files or record the sound of a toilet flush and add it in. I 'hand-made' it myself," she says.

Various "galleries" in the museum include the digi-Salon, where her web art, digital works and electronic sketches are displayed, as well as the Visual Poetry Galeri, which showcases productions based on poems she had written.

"I" she says.

"To me, words are imagery in themselves. The fonts, colour and size enhance people's immersion in the text and inject dynamism into plain words."

The elaborate website has won several accolades from international panels.

For instance, it was awarded the "Top 5 Per Cent of All Web Sites Award" by the US-based Point Communication Corporation.

What she is most proud of, however, is being named one of the 200 cyber personalities in a worldwide project conducted in 1996 called 24 Hours In Cyberspace.

Her virtual museum was featured on the website and published in a book of the same name.

Says the artist of the computer, which she works on for about eight hours every day: "It has become a way of life for me, just like the TV or the car for others."