Simulated Suicide Project Relating to 'One'關於「一」的自殺計劃模擬體驗
1988/2007
This installation consists of three angled panels leaning against a wall, and three suspended ropes, each with a noose. The panels display photographs, and sheets of paper with text are presented on the second panel. The photographs document various enactments of suicide. Several photographs depict a railway track, on which a figure in white lies face down on a white blanket with a large cross. In other photographs, he lies facing up, on a similar blanket, holding a knife that points to his body. Wei Guangqing directed these theatrical scenes in Wuhan in September 1988, with the performer wrapped entirely in white cloth with a black armband. Informed by the Taoist concept of ‘one’—a state of unity—and Albert Camus’s view of suicide as the one serious philosophical problem, the performer acts out the role of ‘one’ addressing the philosophical question of suicide. Wei worked with a group of assistants, including Ma Liuming, who was his student at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts at the time. Ma’s involvement in this project influenced his own performance work. This archive of Suicide Project was exhibited at the China/Avant-Garde exhibition in Beijing in 1989.