Life source
Artist: Tan Tan
Category: site-specific theatre/performance art
Performer: Tan Tan, Wang Yongcheng, Innate troupe(Zambia)
Time:15:00-16:00, October 1, 2018
Place: around the old well of Fangyu Village, Jinan City, Shandong Province
Photographer: Guan Pengxiang, Zhang Fanglai
Assistant: Zhang Muxi, Tan Bingyang, Zhang YuE
This site-specific work was created at the artist residency of Fangyu Art Festival, Shandong Province, China, 2018. It consists of two parts: site-specific theatre and performance art. Fangyu Village is a little-known ancient village that dates back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Shandong. It is located in a mountain valley southwest of the Qi Great Wall. At the end of September, after several days of an artist residency in Fangyu, Tan Tan chose the source of life here, an ancient well, to be the stage for his performance.
There is a stele beside the ancient well which records the origin of the well. It shows over 80 names of the donators of the well in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. For hundreds of years, the water in this well nurtured the entire village. Even in drought years, when other wells were dry, this well still had full of water, so thousands of people had to line up here to fetch water. On the north side of the well is an ancient locust tree, which is said to be 200 years older than the well. It is nourished by the well water and has survived until today.
site-specific theatre
The first appeared "actor" is an elder who has lived by the ancient well for generations. Under the gaze of hundreds of villagers and spectators of the festival, he drew a bucket of water from the well in the most traditional way and placed it in front of the well.
After a while, the audience saw Tan Tan and four African performers holding tall corn stalks in the fields below the plateau. They slowly shuttled from the crops to the steps in a way looking like a group of pilgrims. They placed the corn stalks on the ground in front of the ancient well, and sat down in a semicircle. The four African performers closed their eyes in silence, and Tan Tan began to worship the heaven and earth.
After the ritual, Tan Tan took a scoop of water from the bucket of well water. She put a few plants and seeds in the hands of one of the performers, and sprinkled a little water on the ground in front of him, and then poured water on his forehead. Immediately, he slowly opened his eyes, as if his soul was awakened, and then planted the plants in the watered soil. He got up, twisted his body, and slowly started an improvised dance of life.
Tan Tan went to the other three performers in turn, put different plants in each hand, and watered their foreheads, so they were"resurrected" one by one. During their dance, the two water scoops connected by a red rope turned into musical instruments in Tan Tan's hands.
An older man with long hair (Wang Yongcheng) slowly walked out from the back of the ancient well, and sat on the ancient well, meditating facing the distant mountains.
Tan Tan handed the corn stalks back to the hands of the African performers. The four followed Tan Tan and to step along the edge of the well, turning in circles, rotating faster and faster around the well until it turned to a rhythmic group dance.
Suddenly, Tan Tan tied a dancer with a red rope from behind and led him away like a puppet, and then tied the other three. With herself in the middle, she controlled the four with all her strength and screamed loudly. The four struggled in despair with dramatic gasps. At the same time, the older man came over and circled them slowly. Tan Tan crawled away from the four, took a scoop of water, and poured it to them. At that moment, they seemed to be reborn from prison again, running desperately back to the vast fields, and soon disappeared.
The older man returned to the well and began to prayed and crawled, like what the Tibetans often do. Tan Tan walked slowly to his side, pouring well water on his hands and feet...
So far, the theater performance part has come to an end. Tan Tan walked into the audience by surprise and handed one of the water scoops to a little boy, telling everyone that the next ceremony will be a ceremony that needs the participation of the villagers here to pass water to the village.
performance art
This part is a journey of "Well Water Passing", in which the villagers became the protagonists, while Tan Tan became a facilitator.
Villagers pass the well water in pairs, with two water scoops connected by a red rope. Tan Tan gave one of the water scoops with water to the first random villager, and then she straightened the red rope to search for the next participant. The person who touched by the end of the rope became the one, and she was offered the other water scoop without water. The first person carried the water and walked to the second person, and poured the well water into her water scoop. Afterwards, the second villager waited for Tan Tan to use the red rope to find the third "relayer"...
Following are an incomplete name list of the 27 participants, including the villagers and the volunteers of the art festival, who passed the well water that has existed for hundreds of years
Fang Yongting, Fang Wenrui, Fang Baoying, Fang Baozhen, Wu Na, Fang Zongchao, Fang Zhihe, Fang Ziliang, Zhao Fen, Fang Chuanping, Wu Haoyu, Fang Yuqi, Wang Hongxia, Zhang Xia, Qi Huanling, Xiang Shuying, Li Yijun, Lu Sijin, Zhang Fanglai, Zhang Yue, Guan Pengxiang, Tan Bingyang
The well water went around the alleys around the well and returned to the original place. Finally, Tan Tan sprinkled the water under the old locust tree beside the well, which was even older than the ancient well, to complete the ritual.