The 18th session of Warm Up: “Shanxi Performance Art Archive 1986-2024” will be held at the Archives. This sharing session was first scheduled for August, then delayed to November, and finally confirmed to be held on December 10th. The reason for the delay is that in the process of collecting and organizing documents, new information is constantly being discovered, and it takes time to sort out, interview and verify. When it comes to performance art in Shanxi, people always mention Datong Dazhang (Zhang Shengquan), but little else is known.
However, in the process of digging and combing, we were surprised to find that as early as around 1986, in the year when performance art first began to appear in mainland China, performance art in Shanxi had already taken place in parallel, becoming an extremely important province in the history of Chinese contemporary art. What is valuable is that in the past forty years, except for some pioneering artists who emerged in the 1980s and are still active today, Shanxi’s behavioral art activities, despite ups and downs and fluctuations, have always been continuous, and in recent years have shown a more and more active scene. As a result, the literature on performance art in Shanxi has become vast and complicated, and the workload of sorting it out has far exceeded expectations. A large number of historical facts have been forgotten by the history of art, but they are rarely mentioned. The creators of these age-old works often need to be contacted through multiple inquiries, and it is saddening to note that some of the artists have already passed away. Objective clues to historical facts need to be cross-consulted by many parties before they gradually come to light, and the collection of documents was difficult.
The fact that it was finally completed is undoubtedly thanks to the understanding and support of many fellow artists! Song Yongping, Song Yonghong, Zhu Yanguang, Ren Xiaoying, Duan Yongjun, and many other colleagues actively cooperated to provide assistance, enthusiastically participated in contacting relevant artists, verifying information and other matters, and even provided a large number of precious historical documents, with an academic attitude and chivalry that is admirable and touching. Finally, we would like to express our special thanks to Mr. Li Pengbo, who has spent nearly a year to take up the heavy work of collecting documents and materials, and has put in tremendous hard work and effort. on December 10th, Mr. Li will come to the site of the archive and personally introduce to you the story of performance art in Shanxi over the past forty years!
——Zhoubin
UP-ON Archive Salon
Looking Back Part 18:
File of Performance art in ShanXi 1986-2024
RSVP only. Reviewing archives on-site
Lecturer: Li Pengbo
Host: Kejun Dong（CEO, Yoho Culture)
Time：Dec 10 2024( Tuesday) 19:30-21:30
Sponsor: UP-ON Performance Art Archive
「The Experience of a Scene」Song Yongping and Song Yonghong Taiyuan Second Contemporary Art Exhibition, November 4, 1986
Liu Chun describes the event in his book The Chinese Avant-Garde: “On the last day of 1985, the Shanxi Modern Art Exhibition opened in Taiyuan, an ancient city on the Loess Plateau. Seven artists, including Wang Jiping, Song Yongping, Liu Chun, Wang Yazhong, and Zeng Ling, brought Rauschenberg’s Pop style back to the closed city; wire, rebar, wood, bottles, electric wires, baby diapers, and other combinations of objects littered the gallery, and all corners of the exhibition hall were filled with curious viewers. Striking red and rich black color wandered on the Loess Plateau. The hall was filled with wild and untamed music.
▲1987, W.R group meeting at Dazhang’s house, from left to right: Bai Zhengrong, Zhang Shengquan, Zhang Zhiqiang and Ren Xiaoying
▲“WR 90 Manifesto” Datong Dazhang Manuscript
“Injecting Placenta Injection into Eggs”, Behavior, Datong Dazhang, 1997
「I Saw Death」 performance photography, Datong Dazhang, 1998
In 1998, as a result of years of hardship and illness, Datong Dazhang’s body suffered premature aging, and his incisors fell out. in December, Dazhang sent a photo to some friends, with a caption on the back: “I saw death” (Dazhang’s handwriting on the back of the photo). (Datong Dazhang’s handwriting on the back of the photo) In 1999, Datong Dazhang dug a good grave for himself, paid a year’s utility bills, wrote a suicide note in which he urged his brother not to be cremated after his death and not to give himself a change of clothes, and threw it into a pit he dug. 2000 January, when the world hailed the arrival of the new century, Dazhang hanged himself in the “garbage palace” in his own home. In January 2000, when the world was celebrating the dawn of a new century, Dae-jang hanged himself in his family’s “garbage palace”.
「Where Does Joy Come From – Who Blesses Me? 」Zhu Yanguang, 2000-2001 Material: own body + X-rays Datong, Shanxi Province
「Untitled 1」 Ren Xiaoying, 1998 Performance Conceptual Photography, Datong, Shanxi, China
「Marrying a Mule」 Wang Jin, Performance, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 1995
「A Day in the Life of an Artist’s Artefacts (Excrement)」 a performance documentary by Kong Weimeng, 1996-1997
Process: A series of behavioral activities to illustrate the art, life and mental state of “an artist”. Part of it is about the absurdity of daily life, and the other part is about art history. …… The last behavior is based on “The Last Supper”, and it is a “human body banquet”. The last act is a “human banquet” based on “The Last Supper”. …… The works are assembled into a collection, presenting all the works as a documentary. The main actor is the famous animator Wang Bo (Pi San), with the participation of many Shanxi and Taiyuan local artists.
April 8, 2005, Rain + Snow – Taiyuan, Duan Yongjun, 2005
Behavioral scene process: to pull the black veil of the effigy frame replaced by a mirror, held in the arms of the square or station around the image of holding the effigy begging, on the ground to the beggars of the bitter experience of the text changed to “what we have lost, what we have gained …… ”, holding a mirror kneeling on the ground more than throwing money to coax onlookers, and then get up holding a mirror and onlookers shaking hands, due to the reflection of the mirror, more than dispersed, and then returned to the original place prostrate on the ground, the end of the behavior on the occasion of the staff to be driven away, the ground was washed. Recorded by: Ren Jihong (photo), Zhao Jing (video)
Introduction of Sharing Guests
Pengbo Li
Li Pengbo, born in 1984 in Hui County, Longnan, Gansu Province, a member of the Democratic League of China, graduated from Taiyuan University of Technology, a freelance artist, resided in Songzhuang Art District in 2007, and in Changzhi, Shanxi Province in 2015. His works involve painting, performance and installation art.
