8 may 1999, 1999
...Whether seen in the flesh or in photographs, Zhu Ming’s performances, through his raw display of his naked body, are controversial works that call attention to the vulnerability and aloneness of all humankind. During the first decade of his performances, his works were banned from public display in Mainland China because it was believed that Zhu Ming’s works were polluting to the general public. As a result, the majority of his performances from the Bubble and Luminescent Man series were performed abroad.
The Bubble series, a performance series that was initiated in 1997 and makes use of specially designed plastic bubbles, discusses the transience of life and the endless cycle of life and death. These same themes were also an inherent aspect of Zhu Ming’s more recent works, Luminescent Man, in which the artist paints his body with toxic fluorescent powder and performs in a darkened room. The images from these performances alternately show the artist curled in foetal position, as a many-armed Bodhisattva and as a single head floating in a black abyss. Regardless of medium, Zhu Ming’s works often place enormous stress on the artist’s body and, through these external, physical struggles, the artist finds internal, spiritual peace in the process of performance (read the complete text @ chinesecontemporary.com)...
