Performance art/performing arts
A letter to me two hundred years later
Category: Site-specific Performance
Artist: Tan Tan
Producer: Long Miaoyuan
Performers: Wang Linzhen, Yu Dan
Music: Hu Anshi, Tan Tan
Special Thanks: Zhang Bo
Performed at the opening performance of “Mirroring HanKow” Art Exhibition
Several years ago in Hankow, a lady born a hundred years ago wrote a letter to people in the future and placed old furniture on a rocket capable of traversing time and space.
Two hundred years later, a girl who had moved to another planet came to Earth for exploration. She discovered the letter and, in doing so, opened the gateway through time and space.
In the end, they realized that they were actually the same person in two different dimensions!
Hankow's past and future, through memories and technology, formed a mirroring effect.
One-year Anniversary
+265 days
Category: Contemporary Theater
Director/ Dramaturg: Tan Tan
Producers: Zhang Bo, Long Miaoyuan
Moving Image: Tao Tao
Installation Design: Tan Tan, Wang Xiaoxin
Performers: Tan Tan, Wang Linzhen, Lou Renlian, Hu Anshi, Zhao Jiahao,
Music: Hu Anshi, Tan Tan, Zhang Yiding
Dates: October 13-14，2021
Venue: Beijing 77 Theater
Performed at 2021 Beijing Fringe Festival-Theatre at Present
"One-year Anniversary" is counted from the day Wuhan City was locked down on January 23, 2020. As of the premiere night of the performance, it has been "One Year + 265 Days."
However, "Wuhan" is just a symbolic representation, triggering changes in the entire human life over the past two years.
Can we return to the world before 2020? Where do we go from here?
This play, within the framework of the "post-dramatic theater," integrates performance art. In terms of the audience-performer relationship, it creates an immersive interactive experience. In space and media design, it combines large-scale installations and video art.
One-year Anniversary
Category: Contemporary Theater
Dramaturg: Tan Tan
Performers: Xiang Yao, Zhao Jiahao, Yang Fang, Feng Bin
Visuals: Wu Shuiyang
Music: Hu Anshi, Zhao Jiahao, Tan Tan
Photography: Shi Peng
Cinematography: Gao Yu, Wang Jingwei, Chen Binghao
Date: January 23, 2021
January 23rd, this is a day worth remembering. For Wuhan, for China, for the world.
In the year 2020, humanity experienced unprecedented upheaval. As residents of Wuhan, we have been in constant reflection.
Where does our panic come from? Where does our hope originate? From where does our present come? Where is our future heading? We are consolidating the fragments of memory, contemplating, reviewing, and delving deep.
Connection
by the "Healing Scene" team
Category: Healing Workshop/Site-specific Theater
Planning/Performers: "Healing Scene" Team - Qiu Zi, Zhang Busan, Tan Tan, Zhang Dazhao
Photography: Wang Yanlai
Videography: Wang Xiang
Editing: Tan Tan
Special Guest Musicians: Yang Dong, Wang Li, Xie Rong
Date: September 13, 2020
Venue: Donghu Shan Art Museum
This is a performance of yoga-infused art presented by the "Healing Scene" team on September 13, 2020, at the Donghu Shan Art Museum in Wuhan.
Seeking to integrate yoga and art therapy, the performance aims to create a sense of unity and connection between the body and mind through spontaneous movements, meditation, chanting, and various forms of creative expression. The goal is to empower both participants and performers and provide a healing experience for all involved.
Sound Recycling
Category: Sound/Physical Theater
Director: Tan Tan
Costume Design: Yang Yiming
Date: September 5, 2020, 15:00-15:20
Venue: OCT-Loft C2, Nanshan District, Shenzhen
Materials: Various recycled waste
Performers: Qu Hong, Tian Yu, Gong Ting, Yang Yanting, Xu Xiaoyu, Yi Nan, Qin Tian, Qiu Weicheng, Huang Rongqi, Xia Baolin, Tan Tan
* Opening performance of the “Trash New Order” 2020 OCT-LOFT Public Art Exhibition
People usually pay attention to the morphological forms of objects, but we seldom listen to the sounds of objects. Sound is frequency and wave. It is one of the best ways for human beings to resonate with the universe. Let's listen to, feel, and even play with these remnants (aka Trash) - this is a ritual of Trash-formations.
The ceremony is also an interesting performance in which everyone can participate. Under the simple conduction of the artist, the participants will use the "Soundpainting" method to play with these "musical instruments" made from different trash to present a collective improvised concert.
Shaman on Great Wall of Qi
Category: Performance Art/Workshop
Artist: Tan Tan
Performers: Tan Tan and the Audience
Videography: Cui Chi
Photography: Wang Qingbin
Date: October 5, 2019, 15:00-17:00
Location: Beacon Tower of the Great Wall in Zhangqiu, Shandong
Performed at the First Qi Great Wall Art Festival in 2019
At the summit of Mountain stands a beacon tower that has stood for two and a half millennia. Tan Tan, guided by the shamanic drumbeat, leads everyone into an unpredictable journey. Together, they enter the realm of extraordinary consciousness, engaging in spontaneous vocalizations and dancing.
Every stone carries messages from thousands of years.
Every mountain breeze serves as a spacecraft to ride us through the universe.
Inhale the Qi
Category: Site-Specific Theater
Performers: Tan Tan, Fan Wei, Prince Louriss, Improvisational audience
Date: March 31, 2019, 19:00-19:30
Location: Wuhan Donghu Shan Art Museum
Photography: Gao Yu, Long Miaoyuan, Romane Quiche
This might be a performance that transforms the environment and atmosphere into actions, a fusion of music, painting, and the energy of the body, or perhaps a ritual saluting to the heavens, earth, and the universe.
Although "Inhale the Qi" is reminiscent of Taoist principles, the performance integrates more International shamanic rituals. In fact, the Daoist concept of "unity of heaven and man" aligns with the shamanic worldview. This performance attempts to use the most primitive, spontaneous rituals to "gather" the energy of nature.
Air-Water-Fire-Earth-Man
Performers: Tan Tan and other participating artists, the audience
Time: 23:00 to 24:00 on December 31, 2018
Location: Siziwangqi, Ulanchabu League, Inner Mongolia
Temperature: -30 degrees
Assistance: Liu Youxin, Hao Ruichang, Liu Peiwen
Photography: Huang Qingjun
＊Performed in the 6th “Burnt of Snow” Performance Art Season
In the last hour of 2018, Tan Tan initiated a healing ritual that connected with nature, to ring out the Old and ring in the New.
She asked over twenty people to form a circle on the snow, telling them that she would work with them to do something that everyone is doing every second, that is, breathing.
The exhaled breath became visible in this ceremony because she asked people to exhale to a distorting mirror. The whole action was taken with shamanic drumbeats. As a result, everyone saw themselves gradually emerging in a flowing psychedelic look in the mirror, and then their faces turned into a blur after they exhaling...
Loop
Category: physical theatre
Performer: Tan Tan
Assistants: Hu Jialiang, Lu Desheng
Photographers: Hao Peng, Jiang Junjie
Duration: 30 min
Place Cement Park LIVE HOUSE, Shanghai
Performed at Cement Park Performance Festival VOl.39, October, 2018
This performance attempts to illustrate the illusions and journeys inside the mind of a prisoner of a society/one’s life, it talks about the infinite loop between imprison and freedom, reality and dream.
Under confinement, the reality and the illusion become unbounded to me.
Even if the door in the reality is open, which direction will it lead to?
Let’s go to a universe outside of this reality.
Sound/Tunnel
Category: site-specific Theater/Sound Theater/Performance Art
Performers: Tan Tan, Jiazheng + Zheng Xi, Shi Jing
Duration: about 1 hour
Time: 5 pm, October 4, 2019
Place: Han Tao Art Museum
Performed at the 1st Laiwu International Factory Theatre Festival, Laiwu, Shandong
A hose in this work is a channel of intimate communication between strangers, meanwhile, it is also a path that leads people to the world of sound.
This world surrounds you all the time, but you have never entered; it is as if you and I are walking on the same road, but living in two parallel universes.
Life Source
Category: site-specific theatre/performance art
Performer: Tan Tan, Wang Yongcheng, Innate troupe(Zambia)
Duration:1 hour
October 1, 2018
Performed at 2nd Fangyu Art Festival, 2018
This is a site-specific work based on the environment of FangYu Village.
The first part is a ritual created for the ancient well, which represents a transition from a state of being soulless to rebirth, with the nourishment by the well water.
The second part is the performance art of "Well Water Passing". Two water scoops connected by a red string and the villagers became the protagonists of this work, while Tan Tan became a facilitator.
A Pink River
Category: performance art
Performer: Tan Tan
Duration: 1 hour
8 Mar. 19.00, 2018
Performed at Manifestation Against Sexism 2018 (Mars tegen Seksisme 2018) in Gent, Belgium
It is a story about a “misplaced woman” comes from China lives currently in Belgium, who attempts to find her place as a foreign woman despite all the stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings. But sometimes, she needs to disguise herself like a model in a fashion show, to act different roles that she is supposed to be…She tries very hard to be with the people here and fight with them, but she fails again and again… She even can't understand what they are fighting for… The only thing she could do is to live like a flowing river, dancing, singing, and crossing anywhere in the world, for her existence and journey of life is the best manifestation.
Category: performance art
Performer: Tan Tan
Duration: 1 hour
29 Nov. 19.30, 2017
Performed at "Trouble Diaries: A political statement" International Female Artists Exhibition,Big House Art Center, Wuhan, China
The title of this work is adapted from “Art must be Beautiful; Artist must be Beautiful” (1975) by famous female artist Marina Abramović.
This work is also dedicated to another female artist who had been covered by the ashes of history, she is Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Several recent research showed that she might be the real author of “Fountain” of Marcel Duchamp...
This performance is a question, a sign, and a confrontation.
Category: performance art
Artist: Tan Tan, Sophie Saporosi
Duration: 40min
June 17, 2017
at"Images Vivantes" Art Exhibition, Lesbrouss'art Gallery, Brussels
Tan Tan and Rosa Mund are the honored programmers of "Venize Biennale 2017". They were invited to host this auction for the exhibition "Images Vivantes" in Belgium, to sell some artistic/personal objects from well-known artists Parole & Pôlet, including their used socks, underwear, notebook, strange antiques, etc.
Rosa Mund was in charge of the speaking part of the auction show, while Tan Tan did several witchcrafts to illustrate the precious values of each object. Indeed, they were craps of artists, which made them very unique. At the end, the auction was a success proofed with more than 100 euro's income.
Category: performance art
Performers: Tan Tan, Eric Bribosia, Sophie Saporosi
Duration: 20 min
May 16-17, 2017
at Giardini, Arsenale, during the 57th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
TanBo, the winner of "Super Lion Award" of Venize Biennale 2015 answered some crucial questions from a journalist at Venice Biennale 2017, during the opening week. Many audience were attracted by the interview.
The 4 questions are:
Why do you do art?
How to become a successful artist?Do you have some words to say to the Art circle?
How to be selected by the official program of Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia)?
The Principles of Survival of Today's Artistic Career/Life
Category: Lecture performance
Performers: Tan Tan, Sophie Saporosi
Length: 30min
18 March 2017
at at international conference "DANCE NOW-work with(out) boundaries", Gent, Belgium, March
As an artist working on contemporary art, meanwhile an artist from a country which is not the "centre" of contemporary art, Tan Tan always works and lives in elsewhere, without the boundaries between work and life.
Her lecture-performance attempts to reveal how today's artists earn their lives through their art, or do art relying on their mode of life.
Category:Performance/ Video Art
Performer: Tan Tan
Length:11:15min
8th Nov. 2015
at Arsenale, Corderie, Artiglierie, Tuvalu pavilion, the alley outside of Arsenale, during the 56th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
This is one of the most important performances in "Venize Biennale 2015", which was created and performed by Tan Tan at the 56thVenice Biennale.
The work began with Tan Tan's improvisation during an "official" performance “In the Midst of Things” of Venice Biennale. She tried to interact with the performers who came into the audience. After a while, one of the performers shouted, “Stop! Stop! Stop!” so the other performers stopped their performing. “This woman has nothing to do with the performance! …We must stop it because you might think that she has something to do with the performance!” The angry performer pointed at Tan Tan and declared...
Category: Performance/ Video Art
Performers: Tan Tan, Eric Bribosia
Length: 7:12 min
7th Nov. 2015
at Giardini, in front of Stirling Pavilion, the passage to Central Pavilion, Spanish pavilion, during the 56th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
This is one of the most important performances in "Venize Biennale 2015",which was created and performed at the 56thVenice Biennale.
Tan Tan and Eric Bribosia walk, stand, sit and lay with pajamas at many spaces of Giardini during the 56th La Biennale di Venezia. Their actions drew big attentions from the audience, artists and the security of the exhibition. Actually the performance was a walk in the “Alice's Wonderland” with “Emperor's New Suit”.
Special thanks to Salvador Dalí, Francesc Ruiz, Pepo Salazar, for having inspired the creation of TanBo. The name of the work is dedicated to “Art must be beautiful, artist must be beautiful” by Marina Abramović.
Category: Performance, video, sound art, interactive art
Performers:Tan Tan, Eric Bribosia, artist group “Poor CD Band”
Sep. 2015
Performed at the opening of “DM@CC——2015 Wuhan Digital Art Invitational Exhibition” in Wuhan Art Museum.
During the two third of the performance, the audience could only see the work on their mobiles after scanning the QR codes. The performance doesn’t exist only if the audience participate fully during the whole process, thus the audience are performers as well!
For instance,after scanning the codes the audience could enter a “channel”and a “Chatting group” built by Tan Tan in the APP“WeChat”, which is the “top one” communicating application for Chinese people. In the “Chatting group”,they saw TanBo and “Poor CD Band”showing their photos and videos lively, claiming that they are "performing", besides they could chat with all the people in the group, they even could get some money as gifts…
Category: Experimental theatre (physical theatre)
Director /dramaturge: Li Ning
Music/sound, performing: TanBo
Performers: Qiang Wei, Liu Qing, Han Song, Li Ning, Li Jia, Yan Sanyuan, Wang Yongcheng/ J-Town Physical Guerrillas
Jul. to Sep. 2015
With the creation of awarded theatre director and choreographer Li Ning, this theatre depicts people’s “souls” in a physical and powerful way. It is consisted of two main parts, the first part shows a desperate working course in an abstract factory with only stones, the second part is a ritual of the “death”and “rebirth”of the workers from the factory…
TanBo composed the music/sound of the whole show, and performed as both live musicians and performers at several festivals, such as Beijing Fringe Festival 2015 and 2016 Wuzhen Theatre Festival, which are the two most important and cutting-edge theatre festival in China. In the performances, TanBo contributed their own creation and improvisation to the work, in both musical and dramaturgic directions.
Category: performance, music/sound art, installation
Performers：Tan Tan, Eric Bribosia, Wu Haizhu, Zhu Linan
Feb. 2015
Tan Tan convinced a new fashion shopping mall to turn all their light off for 30 min, to undertake this performance.
The show began with a “shadow dance” of the performers with Eric Bribosia’s music/sound art. And then, the performers went into the dark, the audience saw a lot of shadows of products on sell in different colors and transformed shapes, but they could barely see the performers who were making these shadows …
This performance is a metaphor of“the Allegory of the Cave”from Plato in a modern commercial context. The material world that we are in, may be just some shadows in a cave…
Category: Physical theatre, performance art
Planner: Tan Tan
Director, choreographer : Li Ning, Tan Tan
Sound/Music: Eric Bribosia
Apr. to Jun. 2014
This work was created during three months of workshops organized by Tan Tan at Hubei Institute of Fine Arts (Wuhan, China). It was showed at “2014 Sound/Body/Image/Power-Multi-Media Art Festival” for two times.
Conceptually speaking, the creation departed from one subject “faith and ritual” set by Tan Tan. As a result, the audience can see how do people look for their faiths among ancient religious and modern patterns, for instance, there are actions look like Buddhist ritual, money worship ritual and hi-tech worship ritual…
Category: Sound performance /installation
Artist：Eric Bribosia, Tan Tan
Jun. 2014
Performed at “2014 Sound/Body/Image/Power-Multi-Media Art Festival”,
8 loudspeakers circling the space plays 8 voices separately, which are reciting some words of the stories of creation of the world from different traditions (Christianism, Taoism, hinduism, bouddhism, African mythological stories...) in different languages. The voices are from the readers of the culture from which the text is taken (arabic for the Coran, hebrew for the bible...) .
This performance was performed in a closed tent like a “black box”on a terrace. The audience were asked to put eye masks to hide the light, so they sat in the dark at the beginning of the performance. During the performance, gradually, the roof of the tent was removed little by little, in order to let the light pass more and more.At last, the tent was exposed to the daylight completely, the audience removed their eye masks, and then found themselves were still under a narrow sky surrounded by high buildings, and heard full of noises of the city…
Body Space
Category: Performance art/ physical theatre
Artists: The physical Guerrillas, Tan Tan, Eric Bribosia
At: China Academy of Art
5th July, 2013
This is an artistic communication and spiritual interaction between Li Ning/The physical Guerrillas and TanBo, at “Media, Art and Performance: The International Syposium of Interdisciplinary Practice And Performative Media In Art Education” held by China Academy of Art.
VJ Performance
“Improvised Alchemy” Experimental music + VJ performance, , Wuhan, China, June, 2013
“May it be” Experimental music+VJ performance with Matthieu Ha, Wuhan, China, May, 2013
“Music Painting & Image Orchestra” Experimental music+VJ performance with Matthieu Ha, Wuhan, China, May, 2013
Vj performance with Jazz band “Mû” (Yann Lecollaire: Clarinet, Quentin Manfroy: flutes, Benjamin Chaval, drums,Eric Bribosia: Keyboard, synthesizer), Brussels, Belgium, 2012-2014
"Hypnogenetic Moments" VJ Performance + live music and painting with Anton Lustig, Beijing, China, 2009
VJ Performance with French band “Planetarium” (Rodolphe Burger&Yves Dormoy), tour in 9 cities in China, as an important project of “The China-French Cultural Spring”, May, 2009