BRICKS Performance Art by ZHENG Lianjie

On February 5,1999, at the foot of the SiMaTai site of the Great Wall (Dongpo Village), New York-based Chinese performance artist Zheng Lianjie (last name Zheng) carried out a performance piece called “Bricks and Stones.” In addition to Zheng,five girls and ten boys, including the artist’s own son, participated in the performance,With the exception of his son, all the children were those of the local villagers.

　　During the performance each child held either a broken brick from the Great Wall dating to the Ming Dynasty or a common stone found around the village. The performance took place around 5pm on a corn stalk-strewn hillside with all participants facing west,standing still for an hour. The children’s ages range from three to fifteen years old.

　　This piece expressed the artist’s concern for the contemporary living environment of Chinese people, the raising of children today, and China’s population problem.

　　Dongpo Village occupies a special place in Zheng’s heart, In October and November of 1990, Zheng did a series of Great wall rubbing works to celebrate and commemorate the reunification of the two Germanys at this very site.Then he returned again in the fall of 1993 to carry out a series of performance pieces including the well-known “Big Explosion.” During these periods he received an enormous amount of support from the local villagers in every aspect of his work, In addition to helping transport supplies up the difficult mountain path, the villagers carried water to Zheng and his crew every day. The performance piece “Big Explosion” required the wrapping of more than ten thousand Great wall bricks, all of which was accomplished with the diligent assistance of Dongpo’s villagers, including women and children. In fact, a number of the participants in “Bricks and stones” were children of those villagers who helped Zheng with his earlier works. Zheng said, “After my experiences there in the early 90’s, my thoughts often returned to that peaceful village in the northern hills. The stories of their daily lives and their hopes for the future influenced me over time.”

　　“Bricks and stones” was the first performance piece that Zheng did on his first return to China after almost three years in New York.
Photographers for this performance piece were Wang Zemin, Li Yongsheng, Zhai Jianfang, and Shen Ming, with Meng Kuishun and Shen Ming recording video. (All names are listed with surnames first.)