Give rice paper and ink to a Chinese artist, and you can expect a beautiful ink and wash painting in return. Give these same materials to Swedish artist Anastasia Ax, however, and you will be rewarded with something rather more unusual.

Ax, who is based in Stockholm, has devoted herself to installations and performance art since 2005. During these years, she has collaborated with local artists during performances that have taken place all over Europe. She has consistently received positive reviews for her work.

Ax is now in China for the Asian premiere of her new show Step into the Current which is being held at the am art space 0n Fengxian Road. The show has been split into three distinct sections that will have different showing periods: Construction (July 1 to 5), Destruction (July 6, 6 to 8 pm) and Reconciliation (July 14, 7 to 9 pm).

Ax will build a landscape installation from rice paper with the help of four students from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, and visitors can witness the creative process. Each day during the construction period, the installation will subtly change depending on the materials introduced.

Differing reactions

"My favorite part is when the audience interact with the show; they see me working and I can see their differing reactions to my work," the 33-year-old artist told the Global Times. Ax recalled how some exhibit visitors to her installation at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm had joyously danced around her work.

For the "Destruction" phase, Ax will irrevocably alter the status of the installations by breaking them up and splashing ink all over them. "Ink, here, becomes a creative tool to change the atmosphere of the installations completely," said Ax. "It's not simply destruction; it's also a process of creation."

Noise is another feature of Ax's brand of performance art. During the process she makes noises with whatever objects and materials come to hand. For example, she will bang a microphone against a wall in order to mimic the sound of beating drums. For the Shanghai show, she has invited Junky Cao from local band Torturing Nurse to collaborate. "It's important to have noise!" said Ax. "The underground music scene, and the punk music scene are not commercially-driven movements; they are independent and they express what the performers really feel inside."

Ax added that loud music has long been an inspiration to her art.

Meditating viewers

The "Reconciliation" evening will see an invited audience asked to meditate on the remains of the installations.

During her previous performances of the show, she included Buddhist monks at the Reconciliation stage, but Ax said that she will be doing something new in Shanghai.

"Anastasia's work is more than a performance show; as you can see it also involves installations, sculptures, noise and lighting, as well as elements of meditation. And the interaction between the audience and the artist never stops throughout the process," said Biljana Ciric, who is curating the show.

 

Date: Until July 31, 11 am to 6 pm (Tuesday to Friday), 1 pm to 6 pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Venue: am art space 上午艺术空间

Address: 50B Fengxian Road 奉贤路50B

Admission: Free

Call 6384-2432 for details