VITAL CHONGQING

For some time we have been aware that a number of the leading Live Artist in China have been coming out of the Sichuan Fine Art Institute in Chongqing. Sarah Champion, Chinese Arts Centre's CEO, visited Chongqing and the Institute in July 2006 and was overwhelmed with the wealth of student talent. More importantly, and perhaps key in why so many good artists originate from there, the care and support afforded the students once they graduate was exceptional. Many of the Lecturers are past students and are committed to help others excel. The University runs a studio and gallery complex, Tankloft, where graduates and lecturers produce work and exhibit alongside national and international artists.

A group of Chongqing Lecturers have acquired an old cigarette factory opposite the Institute. This 5 storey Bauhaus building named 501 has been turned into 80 independent studios and two major gallery spaces. Mr Yan was leading this ambitious transformation. Yan is no stranger to Live Art being the former husband to artist He Chengyao, a senior lecture at the Institute, a painter and an interior designer.

The building opened in January 2007 and to celebrate they collaborated with Chinese Arts Centre to host Vital Chongqing. This took the form of a lecture on the history of Live Art from Sarah Champion followed by eight performances and a question and answer session with the artists.

Bin Zhou, ?ne RMB? Balanced precariously on a pile of bricks, Bin placed a one RMB coin in his open mouth. As the audience watched, saliva began to trickle down his face and throat, making the artist start to retch. The reflex to vomit compromised the act of staying balanced and we waited uncomfortably for the inevitable to happen. 3 minutes later, with Bin in extreme distress, he collapsed.

Xin Xin/Qian Lan Jia, ?ir-dry the man whose underwear is wet? Xin Xin looks like a model and takes great care in his appearance. Slowly he undressed in front of us. When he was down to his underwear his assistant brought a pail of water which she doused him with (outside was approximately 5 degrees). He then got dressed again and fetched a ladder. He inserted a wooden pole across the sleeves of his jacket so that his arms were spread eagled. Precariously, he then climbed to the top of the 20-foot ladder and braced himself against two hooks on the wall. The ladder was removed and he was left hanging, dripping wet, high above us. For the Chinese in the audience this represented clothes hanging out to dry, for me it was the crucifixion. With either interpretation it was an extreme form of endurance, made more so when his helper rushed up, jumped and stayed hanging from his legs, her whole body off the ground.

Qian Ren ?ntropy? perversion: Chongqing is a fast developing city that runs on industry, principally automotive manufacturing.. Because of this, the pollution is nearly unbearable. Qian eloquently referenced this with his performance. He invited the audience to create a column of bricks around him, eventually encasing him. The audience had also been given cans of gold car paint which they then used to spray the tower of bricks. Very soon the fumes became overbearing for the audience, goodness knows what it was like for Qian. When the cans were empty Qian burst out of the tower gasping for air.

Lang Hao, Happy Birthday. Still a graduate at the Sichuan Institute Lang is a confident performer. He walked around the audience carrying a birthday present. He placed this on a table and unwrapped the birthday cake inside. He held the cake in front of him as he walked around the audience, inviting them to light the candles. As he walked he gently sung ?appy Birthday? When all the candles were lit Ronald placed the cake on a table and continued singing whilst looking at us all one by one. At the end of the song he picked up the cake and smashed it into his face, again looking at us all with contempt before walking off.

Yumei Zhou, Love Hurt. Another student performer was Yumei. She had created an intimate corner in 501 where we found her cradling a toy rabbit before she slowly, ritualistically, began to cut off its limbs. When the deed was done, with as much care and ritual, she sewed them back on again, and act you can imagine her doing indefinitely. Zhou later stated that the piece was to do with the policy in China to only have one child. That child has love and attention heaped upon them, but also high expectations, which can often be overwhelming.

Xi Gu, ?foretime? Dressed in diaphanous clothes, Xi sung a haunting, abstract song which crept into your soul. At the time the meaning was not clear, but later she described how it was a way for her to express her confusion over where her life would take her and what her place was in the world.

Bin Zhou, One hundred RMB? The final piece was by Bin, who had also opened the festival. He led a small girl out from the audience and placed her on a pile of bricks until she was the same height as him. He then put a 100RMB note, between his opened mouth and hers. In a replication of the first work, both began to salivate, with Bin starting to retch. In a phenomenal show of strength, the young girl stood there and took it, bemused, but determined not to back down. Eventually Bin withdrew, ripped the sodden note in two and gave half to the girl.

Shui Po, ?histling? The whole event was stylishly compered by Shui Po. Dressed somewhere between a tramp and an alien in dusty ripped clothing, he moved the audience around the performance spaces using exaggerated gestures and a whistling noise created by a reed. He even managed to communicate comments on each performance in this manner. Using Shui Po was masterful and much more effective than having a MC. He kept continuity throughout the event and engaged the audience during set changes or technical problems.