Performance

Rolling

Year: 2012
Medium: Performance; black clothing
Location: Jinxi ancient town, Jiangsu
Photography: A Nuo

Artist’s statement

Jinxi ancient town and modern commercial property developments are separated by just one river. The two banks represent different times, spaces and civilizations. In China’s movement from a pastoral agrarian society to modern urban life, there was neither the material accumulation of an industrial revolution nor the intellectual groundwork and transition offered by capitalist thought. It could be described as a passive transformation, kneeling and crawling amid the roar of guns, with nothing prepared. I therefore use “rolling” to feel, interpret and understand the psychological and physiological changes experienced by Chinese people in this process.

Jinxi ancient town stands alone, surrounded by the modern city. A stone-slab bridge connects the old town and the new. I rolled my body across this bridge from the old town to the new, using my body to measure and reflect on the relationship and distance between China’s ancient and modern civilizations. What have we lost in this Great Leap Forward–like development from tradition to so-called modernization, rolling and crawling along the way?

Documentation

Rolling: document 02 — 01The artist at the bridge during Rolling.

Rolling: document 03 — 02The artist moving across the stone bridge with his body.

Rolling: document 04 — 03Wider view of the bridge, artist and viewers.

Rolling: document 05 — 04The artist on the bridge steps during the performance.

Rolling: document 06 — 05The artist moving along the bridge as viewers follow.

Rolling: document 07 — 06The artist rolling through the public space.

Rolling: document 08 — 07The artist and the surrounding streetscape during the performance.

Rolling: document 09 — 08The artist on the ground among viewers.

Rolling: document 10 — 09The artist seated following the recorded actions.