AFTER ALL (Crushed Stones)
Object / Postperformative Artefact, 2017
Container with crushed stones
Variable dimensions
Created in connection with the performance After All, first realised on 19 October 2017 during the fifth annual UP-ON Festival at the Art Museum of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
The work consists of stones that were individually carried by participants and later crushed in a collective ritual. The resulting material stores the history of the action and condenses separate gestures into a single transformed whole.
AFTER ALL
UP-ON Festival / Art Museum of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China / October 2017
After All took place on 19 October 2017 during the fifth annual UP-ON Festival in Chengdu, China.
Following the opening address, all participants were admitted into the rooms of the Art Museum of Sichuan University. They passed through a narrow corridor leading to a rotunda, where they were awaited and each given a small white stone by hand. After the distribution was completed, the group was led into another room, where the following performance would later take place. With this, the first part of the action was concluded.
The second part was realised approximately four hours later, after several other performances had ended. No one knew what would happen in this second part. The time interval between the two parts served to establish a connection between the stones and the individuals carrying them, as the objects remained close to their bodies over several hours. During this time, the setting for the continuation of the action was prepared.
The final ritual took place in the same room as the first part. After the participants had gathered again, the next steps were explained. Each person was invited to step out of the group individually and approach a table placed at the centre of the room. On the table were a vice, a hammer, and a pair of gloves. One by one, the participants crushed their stones and transformed them into powder. As more stones were crushed, more powder accumulated on the table, and all separate elements came together into a single whole.
In this way, an object — a material with history — was created. A happening, a moment marked on the timeline, was materialised.
Part 1
The participants entered the exhibition space and received the stones. After everyone had received one, the group was led to another room, where the next performance began. This action opened the entire festival.
Part 2
A few hours later, the action was explained and everyone was invited to participate. Each participant was briefly placed in focus and crushed the stone in an individual way. The final participant was the festival curator, Zhou Bin. He collected several broken stone fragments lying next to the vice, placed them in his mouth, and delivered a closing speech. After finishing, he took the stones out of his mouth and placed them back onto the vice. The audience applauded. The first day of the festival came to an end.
