performance film stills
“Entering a site where I am both foreigner and foreign, the intention lies in building a holistic cross-cultural bridge between the local villagers, the spaces and ecosystems they inhabit, and myself as an artist. Through a sensitive observation, experiencing rural China and the natural environment, I am forming the basis for initial encounters. The different uses of bamboo by the locals invite me to explore the relationship between the body and architecture through performative actions. The trajectories of everyday movements become the directions to understand the artist’s place in the space she is occupying. These performances evolve through the time spent in this new context. The artist, the bamboo, and the artist’s clothing, seemingly merge in an ever-changing series of architectural silhouettes. A vernacular dialogue emerged, and processing the everyday observations helped discover this place’s characteristics. This vernacular approach enables me to relate on a more comfortable and personal level, guiding me to understand the culture of the people and their context, in which the domestic and the functional is above the public or monumental”.
KIMVI is a British Performance Artist and a Lecturer in the Department of Architecture Design at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou. China.
The performance, Bamboo Inhabitant, took place inside the Lucitopia Creative Centre, located in Zixi Valley, Jiangxi Province, in Southern China, as part of C- Platform eight weeks artist-in-residence. The project is sponsored by Lucitopia Residency Xi Art Museum Generative Project.