Lee Mingwei’s Performance Art is Ready to Be Seen at Museum MACAN
Taiwan-American artist Lee Mingwei has displayed his work called “Guernica in Sand” at Indonesia’s first ever contemporary art museum, Museum MACAN. However, if you look closely to the installation, a part of the sand painting hasn’t been finished or intentionally left blank. As a part of his exhibition called “Lee Mingwei: Seven Stories” that is currently being displayed at Museum MACAN, he is about to do a performance art to finish his aforementioned artwork. The 55-year old artists who used to work as a scientist will be accompanied by three other performers for this epic show. The visitors of Museum MACAN will be able to participate in the performance as they will be asked to walk over the sand painting. The concept of the performance is bringing up a sense of creation and destruction that happen simultaneously, just like everything that is present on earth. Happening on Saturday, January 19th, 2019, the performance commences at 12.00 and will be finished once the sun sets at 6 PM. As the moon rises, Lee Mingwei will let the painting stays as it is last touched until his exhibition ends.
Museum MACAN also provides an intimate tea time session on January 20th with the artist that enables you to discover more about his works, the philosophies that went behind his current works, as well as his upcoming solo exhibition that will take place in Cleveland, US. Moreover about his work on “Guernica in Sand”, Lee Mingwei stated that he used Picasso’s Guernica as the base of his work. For those who aren’t familiar with Picasso’s work, “Guernica” showcases the aftermath of Nazi bombing at Basque, Spain. Instead of portraying the violence and fallen victims, Lee Mingwei shifted his lens by focusing on the ongoing phenomena of destruction and creation. The usage of sand is also essential as Mingwei thought that the element undergoes both creation and destruction process at the same time. As cited from his official website, “Guernica in Sand” will let a visitor walk over the sand piece one by one bare-footed until a destined time. For those who are interested in watching the special show or having a tea talk with the artist, head over to Museum MACAN’s website to secure your spot.
Documentation: Museum MACAN
