Li Xiangwei 李翔伟
The Wall (面壁思过)
2017
Performance/Video
Courtesy of the artist
-
The Wall, video still, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. -
The Wall, video, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Angst, keine Angst, Installation view at Times Art Center, 2021. Foto: Jens Ziehe, Berlin. -
Angst, keine Angst, Installation view at Times Art Center, 2021. Foto: Jens Ziehe, Berlin.
On the opening day of the Bill Viola exhibition at the Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou, in 2017, Li Xiangwei went to the museum wearing a T-shirt printed with a punishment note he had received earlier for using graffiti in a performance piece at his school, the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. The artist found a corner to stand in, facing against the wall in the entrance space, next to the introductory text of the exhibition. After a few minutes, the museum staff came to talk to the artist, asking him to leave the exhibition space. After ten minutes of negotiations, they finally resigned and allowed him to stay in the corner for his performance. A volunteer from the Redtory Museum was placed in front of him, back-to-back, to hide him from visitors passing by. The museum volunteer and the artist stood back-to-back until the exhibition closed that day.