Asia
Li Liao
A Slap in Wuhan
2010
A Slap in Wuhan
A Slap in Wuhan documents Li Liao’s performance in Wuhan, China on January 8, 2011. Li waits at the entrance of the Optical Valley walking street. An anonymous person who was recruited online approaches Li and slaps him in the face. Li then leaves. The performance highlights the vulnerability of the artist’s body within public space as well as the state of the capitalist world in which a person can be hired online to commit a minor act of violence.
Li Liao is a performance and video artist who focuses on the absurdities of everyday life to address issues surrounding public space and capitalism. He challenges distinctions between everyday life and artistic practice, and between public and private life. He uses his own body, life, and labor as an art object and artistic practice, sometimes creating durational pieces knit into the fabric of daily life.