“Live Art” at the Periphery of the Art Scene in China

This paper investigates the differing politics of liveness that have emerged from international networks of live art festivals since the 1990s. Such platforms, especially in Asia, cultivated rigorous exchange and collaboration among international artists who predominantly practiced outside of the White Cube and Black Box. By analyzing various approaches to liveness in the practices of Beijing-based artists Chen Guang, Chen Jin, and Hu Yifei since 2000, the author contends that, while the concept of live art evokes classical and even patriarchal interpretations of performance in Europe and America, it has also created a platform and network that allows freedom of expression and a distinct aesthetic specific to the local contexts of art making in China. To that end, the current analysis will concentrate on the economy, the documentation strategy, and the ways live art relics have been circulated and exhibited in China. The self-organized live art festivals also show two limitations: first, the mental activities emphasized by artists cannot be directly communicated through the live; and second, limited financial support remains an impediment to the development of live art into larger-scale programs or their connection to other contemporary art scenes. These factors continue to be significant barriers to the institutionalization of live art, while also maintaining the criticality of such practices as anti-center and anti-authority.