BANK 新年特别活动 | 郑力敏个人表演项目《不确定的气氛》| Performance by Zheng Limin

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BANK 特别活动 

Special Program 

“如今的艺术家未必看重所谓的‘当下’与‘自身’的意义，这些艺术家将他们的表演外包，或者说委托给其他的表演者；与之形成鲜明对比的是，在一九六○与七○年代，艺术家利用自己的身体当作媒介与素材（例如Marina Abramovic、Chris Burden、Vito Acconci、Gina Pane）……作者的身份与作品的真实性是密不可分的。” —— 克莱尔·毕肖普

BANK 将在大年初五呈现郑力敏的个人表演项目“不确定的气氛”。呼吸将是这一表演的起点，而在屏息之间的流动，才能让我们感受到身体与空间上的不均衡状态。我们生活在两个相似的世界里，无法提现的银行，回不去的故乡，被封锁的城市，与我们先前的日常经验成了鲜明的对比。

线索1: 时间轴上的“地图”  

艺术家在谈到这次表演的灵感和场地设定：

“我设定了一个未然的、褶皱的、透光的空间，从某种程度上把自己和观看者‘隔离’开来，以便生发一些切实的个人体验，让时间不至于流逝得太快。从最开始死磕‘呼吸’的表象，到我路过在正午太阳下瞌睡的银发老太，或者是展示二维码时在亭子里看书的保安，这些现场慢慢演变成平静的或是激浪的暗示，虚线或是实线，在时间轴上折出一幅‘地图’的模样，从而我也认识到我始终没有进入到真正的体验之中。”

线索 2: 正午太阳下瞌睡的银发老太靠着的墙 

Thread of the performance: the wall that an old lady dozing off under the midday sun

图片由艺术家郑力敏提供

Photo Courtesy of Zheng Limin

我们忘记了生活的真实性，甚至连呼吸也顾不上。在现代社会开始之前，我们一次的呼吸可以长达40秒钟。而现在呢？我们每天起床，上班，吃饭，聊天，回家，睡觉，起床，在这些日常行为的间隙，当我们有意识地注意到呼吸的时候，它大约是3秒钟；然而在我们愤怒，焦虑，兴奋，思考的时候，它甚至不足1秒钟。我们的期待大多数时候发生在他人身上，将开合呼吸的权利交给了——一次精疲力尽的谈话，一场忘记时间存在的演出，一个尴尬的夜晚，和失焦的恋人。我们在这些偶然的、离奇的、潜在导致全面崩溃的瞬间惊醒。

一个坏了的锤子，收不到信号的地下室，和发炎的阑尾。当一件正常事物脱离了我们日常掌控的时候，我们才能意识到它真实存在的意义。在这一切不确定的气氛中，或许我不会聆听，但会观看。

“Today’s artists do not necessarily privilege the live moment or their own body … Instead of artists using their own bodies as the medium and material, with a corresponding emphasis on physical and psychological authenticity and oppo-sitional transgression, as was the case in the 1960s and ’70s … for example, Marina Abramovic, Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, and Gina Pane—turned to their own bodies as the privileged site of artistic action. Authorship and authenticity were bound together in the irreducible singularity of the individual performer.” —— Claire Bishop

郑力敏于艺术家唐潮作品《呜咽曲》排演现场，OCAT上海馆，2020

BANK is pleased to present “Undefined Atmosphere”, a solo performance project by Zheng Limin, during Chinese New Year on February 16th. The duality of “breathing” sets the performance off. In the liminal moment between an inhalation and exhalation (of a breath), before the air pressure once again reaches equilibrium, we become most aware of the fissure that separates our bodies from the space they occupy. It is as if we split our lives between two realities, in which the resemblances are uncanny and the idiosyncrasies are only subtle. Things exist to contradict previously learned common sense: a bank that can’t be withdrawn from, a home that is never returned to, and cities under lockdown.

In a conversation, Zheng discusses his inspiration for the performance and its setting:

“I imagine an isolated space, wrinkled and translucent. To some extent, I am ‘quarantined’ from the viewing crowd in such a space, where time is stretched longer and authentic personal experience can take place. I begin, all by myself, with an obsessive ‘breathing’ exercise, and then walk past an old lady dozing off under the midday sun, or display a QR code to a security guard reading a book in his booth. These scenarios become clues, explicit or discreet, that if you connect the dots, a ‘map’ is superimposed on the timeline. It is then that I realize my experience is far from authentic.” 

We have lost touch with reality, in our ability to breath. It is recorded that a single breath lasted up to 40 seconds in many pre-modern societies. Breathing is an innocuous part of our everyday lives, and even when we are most conscious of it, every breath lasts around 3 seconds – barely a second if we are anxious, excited, agitated, or even just deep in thoughts. Instead, we forfeit the time for breathing to an exhausting conversation, a performance that lasts past its welcome, an awkward night, and an out-of-focus lover. We wake up to these serendipitous, uncanny moments that tilt our lives towards a full-blown meltdown.

Things that contain more existential weight than their unproblematic counterparts: a broken hammer, a signal-less office, and an inflamed appendix. An innocuous object exists only to be forgotten, until the moment when its meaning collapses. Isn’t it funny that, in an undefined atmosphere, we see?

Project Initiator & Text: Jessica Qiqian Zeng 

Translated by Zhiliang Zhao

表演预告片 Trailer 

关于艺术家 

About the artist

郑力敏，1992年生人，曾经工作于某水库，目前就职于某设计公司。创作以行为或表演为核心，也求助于其他媒介。曾在马丁·戈雅生意、《复·刊》实施个人项目，合作过的机构如上海外滩美术馆、OCAT上海馆、上午艺术空间、JNBYHOME等。

ZHENG Limin, b.1992, is a former reservoir worker and currently working for a design company. His practice is performance based while also seeking aid from other media. He has held solo projects at organizations such as Martin Goya Business and FU|KAN, and collaborated with institutions including Shanghai Rockbund Art Museum, OCAT Shanghai, am Art Space, JNBYHOME, among others.

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