The Full Essay
Project Essay
21 June 2014, group exhibition “A Room Not One's Own”, Beijing 798 Space Station.
Meng Chunsheng's first public performance experiment after taking ordination — direct predecessor of the “three-year retreat”.
Lao Mu took on the role of “Sleeping Temple Abbot”, residing in Chen Xinpeng's installation “Ananda Temple” (calligraphy by Wang Bingfu). The temple door was locked from inside; visitors entered alone and spent eight hours together with him by any means — drinking tea, confiding, confrontation, undressing. Some talked about the pain of breakup, some were confused about loving two people at once; an American homosexual tried to “turn” the abbot, without success; a little girl in the end stripped completely naked, and everyone, like children, examined each other's organs and physiological reactions. After eight hours, Fu Xiaodong publicly unbuttoned his shirt, Li Binyuan pulled off his underwear, “stripping” became the theme.
The 2003 Kunming origin: eight hours was a birthday gift to his Scottish girlfriend Emma — continuous lovemaking, desire saturation. In 2014, the same body, with abstinence as ground, tested the boundary of desire — “from a gladiator of the flesh played out to a mad wisdom of the spirit”. After the performance ended, in a drunken state he painted 《Homage to Bada Shanren》; the next day he jumped into the water at Houhai, returning the temple to all beings.
Three months later, in September 2014, the “three-year retreat” formally began. “What is sincerity? Can you face it? If not? Who are you fooling?
Places like 798 actually have very few people who truly understand “art”. You transformed in a “temple” into an “abbot”, brewed tea, and waited for everyone to come and chat. Drank for “eight hours”, talked for hours, and in the end “stripping” became the theme.
“Are you going to strip or not”?
The physical vacuum is actually a sea of continuously fluctuating energy. When the energy reaches a peak, the energy transforms into pairs of positive and negative elementary particles; when the energy reaches a trough, the pairs of positive and negative elementary particles annihilate each other and transform back into energy.
Here there is a popular saying — “play”, as long as it's fun, that's enough; when “play” turns into an IOU, all the people who are no fun become rich. The poor are the fools and idiots truly abandoned by “market” and “site”, because “we” have always lived in humanity's land of innocence, and in this realist Christian-communist society, normalization is standardized thinking.
“In the ten directions, no image; through the six paths, no trace; leap beyond the three realms, not within the five elements.” I want to thank Dapeng for building the smallest “temple” in the world, giving me eight hours' chance to serve as abbot. Thanks to Fu Xiaodong for finally publicly unbuttoning my shirt — it was undone with difficulty… but with that one undoing the audience's hearts all “loosened” and “opened”. President Fu, you undid it beautifully! Liang Shuo couldn't come, because he had to put his son to sleep. Juliet did not strip; she said she's very traditional.
Jin Lu's straightforward sincerity is delightful~ Rabbit Yinglun, Yilun graceful enough, Runzhi Runzhi, Yunduo's breasts are beautiful!
The abbot brewed tea for all beings, kept them company in conversation, took off clothes and then put them back on. Next, Lao Mu plans to go jump into Houhai, returning the temple to all beings [grinning face]
Project Elements
Time: 21 June 2014, 16:00–24:00
Location: Beijing 798 Space Station Art Center
Exhibition: “A Room Not One's Own”
Spatial host: Chen Xinpeng's installation “Ananda Temple” (Sleeping Temple), calligraphy by Wang Bingfu
Identity: Meng Chunsheng's first public appearance, “Sleeping Temple Abbot”
Materials: tea, body, conversation, time, full-length video recording
Core actions: locking the door, drinking tea, confiding, undressing, examining physiological reactions
Key figures: Fu Xiaodong (unbuttoning), Li Binyuan (removing the underwear), Jin Lu (game-strip), Juliet (did not strip, “very traditional”)
Absent: Liang Shuo (had to put his son to sleep)
Derivative work: 《Homage to Bada Shanren》 (drunken ink landscape)
Subsequent action: jumping into Houhai
Predecessor project: 2003 Kunming “8 Hours” (with Emma)
Subsequent project: September 2014, the “three-year retreat” begins