Zhou Yan Contemporary Chinese Art Archive 周彦当代中国艺术档案
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Date
5-1-1995
Format
Photograph
Materials
Action Art (threading steel, electric saw, lamp)
Description
In 1995, the artist realized this action art three floors below an active construction site. The artist laid naked in a supine position on a concrete floor. A lamp was placed in the corner of the dim room, illuminating a metal cutting machine positioned fifty centimeters away from the artist's feet. Every ten seconds a worker cut a 25 mm long piece of threading steel. Red and orange sparks shot everywhere, blinding both the observer and the artist. According to review papers responding to the action, the piercing sounds of the metal cutting intercepted the constant singing of the construction workers. The action lasted exactly one hour. The photographs were taken by the artists' companion Xing Dan-Wen, who was also a member of the East Village artist community. For more information on "25 mm of Threading Steel", read Kong Bu's article in "Zhang Huan: Altered States” (2007), published by Charta and Asia Society, archived on the artist’s website: http://www.zhanghuan.com/wzMF/info_28.aspx. (Nicole Wang '26).
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