Interview｜Li Liao: Anacatesthesia

2020/6

Qiao: Qiao Dan
Li: Li Liao

Qiao: Can you start by talking about the series “I Don’t Know”, for example, what is the connection between the two works “I Don’t Know 20191226” and “I Don’t Know 20200205”, and how did you start this series.

Li: The series started based on the fact that I finished making a long-term project, and just after I finished it, I thought of doing such a thing. I had done two long-term projects before, both of which were close to two years in duration, and I had been thinking about them very carefully and systematically, paying close attention to the logic of the whole work, its expression and its relationship with myself, and thinking about it very clearly. So, at that time, I felt that the logic of the work was too high, and after I finished it, I didn’t want to continue to do that, and I wanted to do something else at that time. But later on, I gradually said that I would consider more about the interpretability of the work, or the way it could be elaborated. But now I think that “not thinking clearly” is probably a guideline for me, and I should do it myself. So, the way I make sense of this is that I started a project called “I don’t know” series, I will do more of these things that I don’t understand, I don’t know what I want to do, but I want to do these things, most of them are probably lighter works that I can finish by myself, and I can do them whenever I think of them. It may also be a short work. It may not be a so-called performance or a video, it may be something, so this kind of thing may become the norm for my next creation. I hope that the series “I don’t know” will occupy most of my free time, because I always feel that I am a bit too idle (laughs) and feel quite lazy. It’s like when you’re working on a project you’re trying to get it done, and when you’re not working on a project you feel like you don’t know what to do. And then every day I watch my wife go to work and I stay at home. In the past two years, I’ve been doing long-term projects, so I’ve found a reason for myself to work out and learn English (laughs), which simulates that they are working.

Qiao: Then “I Don’t Know 20191226” we can see the way the exhibition takes this tin one by one frame, the audience needs to see the content on this screen from inside this frame, how did this come up with such a way of presentation?

Li: “I Don’t Know” is “I don’t know” from the planning of the creation plan, and the back of the display, for example, how to get close to the work itself to display words is still very clear, is to know what they are going to do. That’s why I chose this tin, including letting people go back to see it. I did this work because it was done in our hometown during the epidemic, and when the city was closed, there were many fences on the road to stop our streets, because we were not a flat building, just close the door, but we needed to build a wooden frame and attach this tin to stop us. I could see this kind of tin in a large number of places, because I would sneak out, and I found it interesting to see this kind of tin, including making this work. In fact, when I was using this tin, I hadn’t thought of its connection with this work, so when I realized that I was going to make such a piece of tin when the project was taking shape, I found a lot of this blue tin in the video, and I thought, “That’s right, you just think about it. It is a time to live in that atmosphere, you think you need to think, in fact, when you choose this thing, it is in that environment is – according to the human is the subconscious, according to the machine is the cache. The cache has cached this thing in, you actually do not have to deliberately create a thing. So then the tin is particularly suitable. And then made into a tube, is deliberately caused by a partition, I think this partition looks like a channel or a deliberate let you do not walk into either, this thing is an interesting thing. Including the viewers to look at this side is a knife, so it is from time to time to remind you of the existence of danger, to deny you a presence, want you not so close, but also through a small channel to see that thing.

Qiao: So another “I Don’t Know 20200205” piece, see you in the video with a new Apple phone and a piece of pork, how to think of these two points to do the connection?

Li: that time to hear the news that pork is quite expensive, last year 19 years pork is particularly expensive, are going to be unable to afford to eat pork; the other is the new Apple iphone 11 pro, is the most expensive a cell phone. Now I think this phone it has been out of the category of a tool in itself, it has become at least for most people is a fashion item. It seems to be more fashionable than clothes, clothes can be changed around, as if everyone has that one thing, and then it is not expensive, a small phone 10,000 such, I think these two things have some kind of connection, or some kind of similarity, symmetry of that feeling. So I made myself into a beggar on the street, and then rubbed these two things I think the most expensive. In fact, this program I had a similar idea before, want to smear this feeling on this electronic device, I think with a piece of fat pork so smear will be better.

Qiao: So at the time of the shooting in the Shenzhen subway you had expected what kind of reaction from passers-by, or not yet set expectations?

Li: in fact, my expectation is that others will be very curious about this thing, because a beggar will take these two things, a so expensive cell phone, a piece of fresh pork, may be a very strange scene. Shenzhen people are a little too beyond my expectations, we do not care about this thing, basically see the eyes also sneak away, keep a kind of my silent decency, I think the city of Shenzhen has a kind of to keep their own is not a big fuss about people, they will not be a weak or how to maintain an excessive concern, because it will disturb others or how. That’s probably how it is.

Qiao: Then there is another work, which is the live performance work “Tenderness”, this is because suddenly saw this scene thought out?

Li: At that time, the other two works had already taken shape and were submitted to the program, and in the middle of that I suddenly came across such an event in the neighborhood. I went downstairs to pick up a courier or something, and saw a man talking to a tree, his emotions would become more and more intense, saying that the other party does not understand him, he is very tired of work, the pressure is very high, he has also reached an age where he is not up or down, the status of the company is also so not up or down, and then you do not understand me, he can not hold on, very hysterical. But from beginning to end he was wearing a bluetooth headset, to a tree, you will see is a person to a tree in a frenzy, crying, and then to the end on the daze this feeling. Then I thought this scene is great, I don’t need to change it, I’ll just find a way to move it to the showroom is very good.

Qiao: I’m going to skip over one question a little bit. How did the idea of chasing the red plastic bag come to you after the series “I Don’t Know 20200205” started?

Li: Actually, the whole city suddenly became empty, and when I walked on the road, I suddenly found that there were no cars on the road, so people could walk on the road, or even walk on the double yellow line. And then there is a little bit of fun, it just so happens that when I went to act in a movie last year, the director asked me to play a top pole, and suddenly I found that I have such a gene you know, I can top better than anyone else (laughs), I can even stand still, the pole does not move, hands do not move, just like that fixed there. And when I topped the pole, I found that I would be in a state of meditation, that is, you would look at the middle part of a pole, and all the surrounding area becomes blind, and you would have the feeling of meditation. It’s a great feeling. So I was thinking, double yellow line I can also go up, then I play this on the double yellow line. A red plastic bag on top is a little fun.

Qiao: The last thing is about the title of the exhibition, right? For example, does “Anacatesthesia” also represent the idea of “I don’t know” or an element of uncertainty?

Li: It’s actually the hometown, it’s a state of going back for a short rest after a long absence, it’s okay to stay for two or three days, but if you are really put there for a month or two, you will really panic. This time because of external reasons you have to stay there, although it is really quite happy, but also really quite panic. I think this is definitely a big watershed since the new century, people finally face a thing that they really don’t know what to do.

Qiao: Another point to add is the journey and relationship between the two works, “I Don’t Know 20191226” and “I Don’t Know 20200205”.

Li: These two works are not connected, they are just with this series, the motive and mentality of creation is “do it if you want to do it”, both are doing it, but it reaches a coincidence, put them together, will find this coincidence is quite interesting. 2019 year end, I pretend to be a beggar in Shenzhen to go on the street like this; then in 2020, in my hometown, I will walk in the street; Then in 2020, in the streets of my hometown to go like this. One of them is the state of very many people, disguise themselves as a lonely beggar; the other city inside no one, in the city road very absurdly frolic, these two like the two sides of the scale, forming a very equal kind.