Zhao Bandi instructed the dancers at the rehearsal site if the details were performed.
Dancers performing "Donkey Ballet".
Beijing News Express (reporter Li Shicong) mentions Chinese contemporary art without mentioning the artist Zhao Bandi, and mentioning Zhao Bandi cannot fail to mention pandas. Today, the artist who has run the performance art "Panda Fashion Show", boycotted the Hollywood animation blockbuster "Kung Fu Panda" series, and made the movie "Let the Panda Fly", after abandoning the panda, has started the idea of other animals. On the evening of June 14, local time in Switzerland, his latest performance art work "The Ballet of the Donkey" was unveiled in Sulsi, Switzerland.
The reason for choosing the Swiss town of Sursi to debut the new work is not unrelated to the collector Uri Hick, who was the Swiss ambassador to China. Every year, Uri Sigg hosts a party during Art Basel in a private castle in Sulsi. On the one hand, it displays its in-house collection, and on the other hand, it also promotes communication between collectors, artists and curators. This year, Hick wants to be different and break through the meaning of the party. As an artist with whom Sigg has long collaborated, Zhao Bandi has created the concept of "a third space beyond art and life" after thinking.
At the climax of the dinner party, Zhao Bandi led a donkey from outside the castle, through the arched gate, face to face with the guests, in the face of surprised eyes and cheers, he did not do any greetings, went straight to the stage that had been arranged long ago, tied the donkey to the wooden stake in the center of the stage, leaned down to roll away the green carpet that had just been stepped on, and then the music sounded, Zhao Bandi was hidden behind the guests, the ballet dancers took the stage with a melody, performed "Swan" around the donkey, after the immersive performance of each guest was a participant, The donkeys remained in the center of the stage eating their own food, weeds. The guests also gave applause as they returned to their seats from the crowd and continued to stagger.
In 2016, Zhao Bandi planned "China Party" in the suburbs of Chengdu, when he half-sunk a grand piano in the lake, a female performer sat in the water to play, and Chinese and foreign guests on the shore held a party, and everything that happened here was recorded by Zhao Bandi with a paintbrush, becoming two oil paintings "China Party - Chopin" and "China Lake C", and finally the two paintings were given to Hick. Therefore, when Hick thought of making a breakthrough in the concept of gathering, the first thing that came to mind was Zhao Bandi. When asked why he thought of "Donkey Ballet" instead of "Horse Ballet" and "Dog Ballet", Zhao Bandi laughed and said nothing, he likes to leave the thinking of performance art to the audience. Considering that there are too many uncertainties about animals, Zhao Bandi said that he will not "replicate" the performance in China.