Editor’s Note: “UP-ON Up Performance Art Archive” is a special column planned by the magazine “Painting” in cooperation with “UP-ON Up Performance Art Archive”. Based on the archive’s behavioral art literature and research results, this column will continue to sort out and sink the historical value of behavioral art, and at the same time, it will also focus on the latest progress of behavioral art’s creation and practice at present.
Why We do it?
On November 20, 2021, the UP-ON Upward Behavior Art Archive was established, which originated from the thought of 6 years ago.In 2015, I visited the Black Kit Performance Art Archive founded by Boris Nieslony in 1981 in Cologne, Germany. The performance art materials from all over the world are archived and preserved here in different categories, and those pioneering, provocative, controversial and shocking historical documents seem to have returned home and lie there quietly. Boris explained patiently for more than 2 hours, among which what made me sigh so far is that the archives preserve the ashes of Swiss artist Norbert Klassen, who decided to donate important materials of his artistic creation to the archives after his death.
Ashes of Swiss artist Norbert Klassen preserved in the Black Box Archives
In 2017, I saw some materials of Polish performance art creation activities in the 1970s and 1980s in a Polish art institution. Restricted by the material conditions and cultural and political environment at that time, those documents generally showed a sense of low-cost coarseness, but they were also more and more powerful in shocking people’s hearts.
These two events prompted me to think deeply about the survival of performance art in mainland China.
It has been nearly 40 years since the emergence of performance art in mainland China around 1985, and after the deconstructive vanguard in the 1980s, the underground wildness in the 1990s, and the positive and negative discussions at the beginning of the 21st century, performance art has even been characterized as not being an art form, and has been completely marginalized due to the booming of the art market. As an art medium, performance art carries complex social information and sharp reality encounters that are not found in any other medium, and its long-term demonization has not changed much so far. This situation has led to the shallow creativity of the majority of artists and the avoidance and indifference of many critics in academic research.
Behavioral art needs to be addressed and studied at the academic level, and the work of behavioral artists needs to be respected and recorded. For this reason, we founded the “UP-ON Up Performance Art Archive”.
Do what ?
On October 22, 2021, 11 professionals in the art field, including heads of art organizations, critics, scholars, and artists, gathered at the Grand Gateway Museum of Art to discuss the value and significance of setting up a performance art archive. One month later, on November 20, 2021, “UP-ON Up Performance Art Archive” was officially established.
The archive aims to collect and preserve performance art materials and literature from an international perspective, to sort, display and research them in a targeted manner, and to build a professional communication and practice platform by organizing lectures, forums, workshops, festivals, publications and other forms. The archive emphasizes that it is not a static storage space for documentation, but an engine and incubator, an institution that promotes the current practice of performance art and explores future directions.
At the beginning of its establishment, the archive planned seven projects: “Warm Up” and “Archives Box”, which focus on the collection of performance art documents; “Up” and “Down”, which promote the creation and practice of performance art; “Up” and “Down”, which promote the creation and practice of performance art; and “Up” and “Down”, which promote the creation and practice of performance art. “Downward” to promote the creative practice of performance art; ‘Evening School’ for teaching outside the performance art system; ‘Experimental Research Laboratory’ to revitalize archival documents and support academic research; and other random activities that are not easy to categorize. Other activities that occur randomly and are difficult to categorize are categorized as “special projects”.
“Warming Up to the Past” is the first project launched after the establishment of the archive, which collects and organizes performance art materials and documents that have occurred in the local area on a provincial basis. Starting from Sichuan, the project will expand to other parts of China, and ultimately, it is a collection of the history of performance art in different regions on an international scale. By inviting experts and those who have experienced the past to speak, dialog and discuss with the audience, “Warming Up to the Past” intends to look back at the past in order to envision the future in a more macro way.
“Since the launch of the project, new discoveries have been made in the process of collecting and combing through the literature. Many artworks and activities have been neglected or even forgotten, and the wealth of information continues to subvert people’s old cognitive experience, making people sigh with regret and lament the passage of time and the thickness of history. This reminds us again and again that, as a long-neglected segment of China’s contemporary art scene, it is urgent and necessary to collect and sort out the archives of performance art literature. After all, most of the first generation of artists engaged in the exploration of performance art in the 1980s in mainland China are now old, and some of them have already passed away quietly, so a lot of first-hand information can no longer be found. At present, “Warming Up” has completed the historical documentation of performance art in 11 provinces or regions: Chengdu, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Guizhou, Anhui, Yunnan, Gansu, Chongqing, and Shaanxi.
The original intention of “Archive Box” is based on the reality that in the field of performance art, the works and events created by artists often become the focus of attention, but the related theoretical research texts, critical articles, as well as dialogues and interviews about the creative life of artists are often neglected. Through the “Archive Box” project, we hope to start collecting, archiving and displaying targeted texts, in order to make these texts more widely available, and to become a public resource to be read and studied by relevant people.
“UP-ON, a project founded by artists Zhou Bin and Liu Chengying in 2008, is dedicated to building an international platform for live art exchange, and has been held for 10 years, with a total of 268 domestic and international artists participating in the festival. During the festival, in addition to on-site creations, the artists will also hold themed lectures and workshops at various universities and cultural institutions, providing public education resources for the community. Years of cultivation have given “UP-ON International Live Art Festival” a good reputation and influence in the international live art world.
The 1st UP-ON International Live Art Festival, “Sonic Intestines” by Chinese Taiwanese artist Lin Qiwei, Thick Garden International Art Village, 2008
The 7th UP-ON International Live Art Festival, Water and Jump by Finnish artists Inari Virmakoski and Helin Hukkataival, A4 Art Museum, 2019
The 10th UP-ON Up International Live Art Festival, Private Pool by Chinese artist Wang Ximan, Guanghui Art Museum, 2022
UP-ON was founded for two reasons: firstly, the organization of UP-ON has its own limitations, for example, the implementation of works is restricted to a specific time and place, and the public space and the presence of the audience limit the freedom of topics and expressions of the works. For example, the implementation of works is limited to a specific time and place, the public space and the presence of the audience limit the freedom of the topic and expression of the works. The organizers and artists of the festival regretted that it was necessary to build a platform for artists to express themselves as freely as possible. Secondly, UP-ON is an annual event that needs to be complemented by a flexible program that continues throughout the year.
The creation of “Night School” is based on the reality that more and more young people are interested in performance art and try to use this medium to create, however, there is no teaching of performance art in art colleges, and there are very few books on the subject, so people mostly practice on their own by reading fragmented information. Even for experienced artists, a regular platform for discussion and exchange is necessary. The “Night School” is to build a platform for teaching and learning performance art outside of the system, focusing on theoretical research and creative practice, open communication, equal discussion, and common learning.
UP-ON Art Archive’s “Special Project” for the A4 Art Book Fair: Talking into a Book
With the gradual enrichment of the Archives’ documentation, the question of how to revitalize these materials and develop knowledge production has become a matter of consideration. To this end, the Archives has launched the “Experimental Research Laboratory” program, which is an open call for researchers, who will be assisted by the Archives with room and board and personnel, and who will carry out research and writing on relevant documents in a targeted manner. In addition, the project within the “self-publication program”, is the existing literature, sorted out by category, to formulate a selection of topics, designed and bound for easy access and research.
The launch of “special projects” is the archive’s hope to participate more flexibly in various cultural activities in the capacity of an institution. For example, the archive participated in two art book exhibitions in A4 Art Museum with the on-site creation projects “Talking about a Book” and “Love and Hate”, and participated in the “Art Cube’s” “Up-on-Up Co-op” with “Up-on-Up Co-op”. With “UP-ON Upward Co-op”, we participated in the “Going to the Stall” activity of Art Cube, etc. This project has unleashed the energy of the archive. This project gives the archive more space and possibilities to release its energy.
How to do?
How is the archive established and funded? How are projects planned? How is the work team established? How do you get things off the ground? It’s not easy until you do it.
The archive is funded by a “hundred meals”. Since the emergence of performance art in Chengdu in the mid-1990s, there has been a relatively good interaction with all aspects of the city, and over the years, it has accumulated a large number of supporters. Thanks to this, the archive is in a good position to eat “a hundred meals”.
The archive’s basic funding comes from the annual membership fees of the 20 founding members. Most of them are from Chengdu, some from Changsha, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and even overseas. They are diverse, including critics, lawyers, scholars, artists, and heads of organizations. The directors are also a powerful think tank for the archive, providing advice and counseling to help the work of the archive unfold in the best possible way.
In addition, a number of friends have contributed money and goods to the Archives. We have also worked hard to find sponsors for each of the Archives’ programs since they were launched, and currently the UP-ON Up Arts Festival, Downward Bound, and Night School programs have annual financial support from their partner organizations. At present, the three projects “UP-ON Up Arts Festival”, “DOWN” and “Night School” all have annual financial support from partner organizations. The Archives’ planning and layout for each project is to build the framework first, and then fill in the content. With the basic conditions, it will efficiently land and promote, and check for deficiencies and make dynamic adjustments in the implementation. A lot of wonderful ideas only bubble up in the work practice.
Archives are also working hard to build and expand and domestic and international counterparts of learning exchanges and cooperation channels. For example, the staff visited Hong Kong’s “Asian Art Archive”, Japan’s “IPAMIA Performance Art Video Archive”, and the Swiss Cultural Foundation to establish project cooperation, and the A4 Documentation Center to establish a mechanism for sharing documentation, etc. These exchanges and cooperation can effectively enhance the archive’s performance. These exchanges and cooperation can effectively improve the operation standard and influence of the archives, and promote the healthy development of various work.
UP-ON staff visiting Hong Kong Asian Art Archive
Swiss Cultural Foundation Visits UP-ON Art Archives
There are seven projects that the archive is promoting at the same time, so the workload can be imagined. The work team currently consists of 23 people. In addition to a dedicated person in charge of each project, other tasks, such as finance, design, public management, live broadcasting, photography, etc., are handled by specialists, some of whom even wear several hats. The Archives is a big family, like-minded people get together, there are no employees here, only volunteers. We all use love to generate electricity, share and build this platform, contribute energy, reflect the value. At the same time, the freedom to come and go without a sense of oppression is very important.
The advancement of the Archives’ projects also relies on the understanding and support of peers in the industry. In order to save costs, the Archives often use the “wild goose plucking” approach, taking advantage of some of the guests in Chengdu to participate in other activities, to invite them to the Archives to collaborate on the project, and even accommodation is also around to seek support from other organizations. However, with the completion of the renovation of the “Fat Dormitory”, the Archives has been able to provide guests with comfortable and hygienic accommodation.
Nearly one and a half years after its founding, the Archives has achieved gratifying milestones by adhering to a purely academic, low-cost, and sustainable development approach. However, everything has just begun, the realization of the value of the Archives depends on the persistent work, the future is long, we still need to work together and move forward.
