SHOW ME LI WEI
PERFORMANCE ART WITH A DIFFERENCE.
The opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing were spellbindingly beautiful and extraordinarily soulless. Thankfully, the city is not all false smiles and lip synching kids.
Li Wei is developing a significant following. His art reflects a nation that is quickly becoming aware of its international impact and in turn how the country’s politics are affecting her people. The dangerous, unstable side to contemporary China is captured in a way that everyone, in every part of the world, can relate to.
Li Wei thinks of his artistic work as a continual balancing act between his striving for freedom and his concern for preserving the little emotional security still available. The tools of his trade are steel wire, mirrors, acrobatics and gravity. Unsurprisingly, it is not without risk.
“Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine.”
Keep tabs on his amazing work here.
