Form as Emptiness III (clip)

performance, ceramic vase, incense, fire, mirror, bone stick, singing bowl, soil, glass, burnt wooden stake, 3D printed egg,
premiered on 15th July, at Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China. Performers: Chen Zhou, Liu Suman, Xuehua, Wang Bo,
Musician: Sheng Di.

The stage shaped by mounds of soil is divided into two areas, one resembling a high mountain, and the other
resembling a lake. The artist sits on the opposite side of the stage, one ear painted white, leading the entire
performance ritual with chanting and the sound of the singing bowl. A performer dressed in black, one ear painted
white, walks two circles around the mountain, depicting the cycle of life from awakening to death, from the
intermediate state to reincarnation. On the mountain, she pours water from a vase, with water flowing out from the
ear of the vase, filling the pits on the mountaintop. Then, she descends the mountain, making another circle around
it, using the vase to capture the gaze of the audience. In the second circle, she holds a circular mirror, symbolizing
the third eye of the intermediate state, gazing upon the audience from a distance. Finally, on the mountaintop, she
ignites fire as a symbol of rebirth.

On the "lake" area, a pair of performers use two vases to portray the twelve stages of Buddhist dependent
origination, from ignorance to death. In the concluding chapter of death, the musician creates an immense amount of
noise to fill the entire space, accompanying the performers' loud cries and laughter, and the artist's shouts.
Ultimately, the artist smashes one of the vases with a bone stick, abruptly ending the performance.

more information: chenzhoustudio.com