Chinese Art

The amazing pictures of an artist dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper

Dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper, this hovering figure looks set to fall to his doom.

But this 'jumper' hasn't just lost it all on a game of chance - this is performance art with a difference.

Chinese artist Li Wei has produced an unsettling series of self-portraits involving his face reflected in mirrors in public places, and photographs of himself crashing into walls and sidewalks.

His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality.

Creating hair-raising performances to convey his continual sense of lost gravity, Wei has taken his work all over the world from Italy, Spain, Korea and the USA.

"My work and artistic experience are characterised by a unique specificity and particularity," says the 37-year-old artist from Beijing.

"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world.

"I am fascinated by the unstable and dangerous sides of art and I hope my works reflect these aspects.

Wei's photos, which sell up to $8,000 (£4,200), depict him free falling from tall buildings-pictures that resemble the famous photograph of the French artist Yves Kline hurtling out a window.

"My favourite pieces are the 'Mirror' and the 'Li Wei falls...' series," he says.

"I began my career in the late 1990s, and is most like my Mirror 2000 series, which includes over 40 site-specific performance pieces.

"Using a large mirror, three feet square, with a hole in the centre large enough to accommodate my head and neck, I place my head through the hole and "project" my image onto various historical and urban environments.

"The philosophy that emerges from my work shows the independence of the spiritual values of Chinese artists and the internal peace of a culture."

The artist loves the reaction that his work evokes from people who pass it on the street.

He said: "The first reaction is astonishment. Some people think they are full of sense of humour. They are curious about how I did this.

"Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine."

Li Wei sees his art as both a mission to set the scene for the perfect photograph and a perfect performance.

"Each photograph lies with a performance", he said.

"For me, how to express myself and the process is more important. I don't care much about if that's performance or photography."

And he has no intention of letting up with his work and is aiming to go as high as possible.

Li said: "I'll continue creating works in high places.

"I incorporated gravity as one of my main elements. My work and artistic experience are characterised by a unique specificity and particularity.

"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world.

"Li Wei falls to..' which has led my work to be recognised as the perfect metaphor for the Chinese conquest of the world.

"In these, my body crashes like a meteorite in different contexts." Dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper, this hovering figure looks set to fall to his doom. ... more

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