Delphine Richer
About the performance 三只猴子 / 3 Monkeys
Context
This artwork takes place in China in 2016 (the year of the monkey in the Chinese calendar). The performance takes place outdoors. The “anchor” point of the performance is located under an open hall, in the heart of a recent district with traditionally inspired architecture, dedicated to entertainment.
Action
With black tape, Delphine Richer marks a rectangle on the ground with a cross on the left side and a vacant space on the right side into which she will place objects as the performance progresses.
She set out on three successive "missions":
1) Blindfolded, groping, she asks for help in Chinese to be guided to a store where she buys a newspaper (the Chengdu economic newspaper).
2) With her ears plugged, following the same principle, she set out in search of a store where she can buy a radio.
3) Gagged, this time she set out in search for a megaphone.
With each purchase, the artist place the acquired object in her black bag and return to her starting point. There, as she goes back and forth, she places the objects that she used to restrain her sense in the rectangle on the ground: the blindfold, then the soundproofing headphones and the adhesive tape, and finally the gag. Then, she completes the drawing formed by the elements with black adhesive tape to reveal the Chinese character 智.
Finally, she places the bag containing her purchases on the cross and then bow, clasping her hands over the smartphone she took from her pocket.
智
Finally, she places the bag containing her purchases on the cross and bows, her hands clasped on a smartphone that she took from her pocket.
In Chinese, the character ("zhì") means wisdom. Specifically, the wisdom of the three wise monkeys who hide their eyes, ears, and mouths respectively.
To read the article in Chinese / 中文的文章 :