Yingmei Duan | Southbank Centre

  • 7 September 2012

Art of Change: New Directions from China will present radical perspectives in contemporary Chinese art. Focusing on the work of eight artists, this exhibition introduces a series of large-scale new installations alongside performance art. These not only reflect the energy and dynamism of present-day China, but also its extraordinary contrasts and contradictions. This role provides an exciting variety of performance-related opportunities. The participants will operate on a rotation basis between three to four installations, but please note it is physically demanding at times. Additionally due to the nature of some installations a height restriction may apply to be able to comfortably participate and to adhere to the artist’s vision. Yingmei Duan is part of the Chinese avant-garde. She worked as a painter for many years living in the legendary art district of Beijing’s East Village. She became a pure performance artist under the influence of Marina Abramovid. For this role, you will be on a rotating cast of performers involving up to four artworks in the galleries. Action of consciousness is a work by MadeIn Company founded by Xu Zhen. A giant white cube is placed in the gallery. Every few minutes, art objects are hurled out of the cube. Visitors can only glimpse the objects for a few seconds as they fly through the air. It will not be clear to visitors how this happens. Liang Shaoji Works by the artist involve live silkworms, wrapping objects in their silk fibres. The artworks will change over time as silkworms wrap their silk around the objects in the show. A thousand silkworms will be housed in the gallery space. Visitors will be able to listen to the sounds they make as they eat mulberry leaves and spin silk, and watch them as they transform objects over the course of the exhibition.