In June 2007, under the scorching sun of Venice, Chinese artist Huang Kui repeatedly threw a two-faces dice (with YES and NO written on each face) like an ascetic monk in xx street. He noted down all the outcomes on a long strip of white cloth（about 900 meters）. The performance was part of Migration Addicts, a collateral event of the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. Migration Addicts started in Shanghai, investigating how migration re-determined issues related to human identity, gender and spiritual needs. In 2007, Migration Addicts consisted in a series of interventions in public spaces of Venice. In the city scattered with cathedrals and churches, Huang Kui asked the question “Does God exist?”, repeatedly as in the myth of Sisyphus.
This exhibition includes the synchronized video from the performance in 2007 and a piece of white cloth with the dice outcomes written on it. Despite the title, which is similar, the work differs fundamentally from the performance in both its subject and the way it can be seen. The performance per se was aiming to “prove a statement” as well as to emphasize the relationship between environment and people during this process. Video that shows this performance, on the other hand, allows both spectators and artist to view the work out of the work itself. Performance by the artist is not so much to prove a statement but to experience the performance itself. And the YES and NO written on white cloth are not so much a record of outcomes but an experience on the pleasure of writing, or even on austerity. “Does God exist?” Did Huang Kui find the answer? In this migration intervention, he found out another spiritual concern among Chinese people within this “Migration” performance, in the name of proving the existence of God.
Detail pictures:
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