Spartacus

Artist’s statement

The work was made during the transition to a new generation of China’s national leadership. Seven people, including Xi Jianjun, Yu Xinqiao, Chen Jin, Jin Geng, Alessando Rolandi and Wei Xing, were invited to take part, alluding to the seven members of the central Standing Committee. During the performance, the seven walked along a predetermined route through the garden and repeatedly enacted deaths in various strange and abnormal ways. Drawing on cases in which criminal suspects died in bizarre circumstances in Chinese prisons and police stations, the work reflected and alluded to individual fate in a society governed by people rather than the rule of law.

Spartacus is the story of a slave in ancient Rome who became a hero. Here, the Chinese title makes a phonetic pun on “十八大死” (“death at the 18th Party Congress”), alluding to turmoil surrounding China’s political congress. Seven participants walked in formation through the garden and gradually acted out deaths in different ways, also alluding to the fate of the seven Standing Committee members.