In the dinner of dinner
19:00-21:00 24th Apr 2014 COART Festival
K2 hostel, Shu He old town, Li Jiang, YunNan.
Concept and direction: Xiao Ke & Zi Han
Performers：Du Bang（Boss of K2 hostel） He Yao Xing（Local Na Xi singer） Guan Yan Yi （singer and COART participant） Shen Jing （singer and COART volunteer） Zhao Ye（Poet） Xuan Hong Yu（artist） Daiki Arisaka (Japanese performing artist and tourist) Kohei Kudo （Japanese performing artist and tourist）Maiko Kikuchi （Japanese jewelry designer and tourist）Xiao Pang（Local flower seller）Xiao Ke & Zi Han
“In the dinner of dinner” is a special social theater performance produced for COART 2014 by Xiao Ke & Zi Han. The two artists present the contemporary performance in the name of dinner; invite other artists and Li Jiang local friends to join. All participants come together for the dinner, communicate with different stories about art, life and personal experience. The whole performance is totally open to audience; performance and realistic life mix together. Xiao Ke and Zi Han keep their concept, they believe that art is from life, and art should disappear into life.
One-hour performance looks like a big party, all people inside are so happy. You will see everybody eats food together, someone suddenly sings songs, and people chat comfortably. Xiao Ke and Zi Han design a theater structure and play live music to combine all live elements together; the strange dinner party becomes a contemporary theater work. During the dinner, Xiao Ke stands up and improvises with Japanese artist to dance; He Yao Xing a local Na Xi boy sings his nationality’s song and invite everybody drink; poet Zhao Ye declaims his poem to all people; and Zi Han tries to explain Xiao Ke’s dance movement as a sports commentator to destruct contemporary dance in a live process. Except these art moments, you also see children’s playing, dogs running, all audience drinking. The theater performance here is not a holy hall but a fresh live life. Xiao Pang a young boy who is flower seller in this old town, he is also one of the performers Xiao Ke and Zi Han invited. Xiao Pang carries so many roses into the performance and tries to do his business to sell flowers. In the end of performance, all audience come to snatch his flowers, finally Xiao Ke and Zi Han have to pay for these flowers to Xiao Pang.
It is a strange but happy theater performance, which lets people think about what is theater art? And what is our real life? During the 60 minutes performance, there is 3 minutes silence; all the participants on the dinner table suddenly freeze, then you will see two TV screens behind table start two different video movie, which is created by Zi Han. The 3 minutes looks like a sudden stop during a dream, all audience are put back to a logical world to review what happening here, a flowing sadness come out with the TV movie. But after 3 minutes everything come back to the dinner party, which seems like nothing happened. The silence is a chance to audience to find an exit, and also to think about our realistic life and our performance life. It is Xiao Ke and Zi Han’s art works to build up a open social theater art for more people and to connect with more people’s real life.
As Chinese artist Wu Wen Guang said before: “ The most art what we are doing now is useless in China!” They believe the contemporary daily life in China is the most fresh and interesting theater performance.
以饭局的名义
2014年4月24日 19:00-21:00
丽江束河古镇K2国际青年旅舍
概念：小珂 子涵
参与演员：杜邦（K2掌柜） 和耀星（纳西小伙＋民歌演唱） 关燕仪 （歌手＋COART工作人员） 申婧 （歌手＋COART志愿者） 赵野 （诗人） 宣宏宇 （艺术教育） Daiki Arisaka (日本表演艺术家) Kohei Kudo （日本表演艺术家）Maiko Kikuchi （日本设计师）小胖 （束河卖花人）小珂 子涵
“以饭局的名义”是小珂与子涵特别为“亚洲青年艺术现场2014”特别创作的社会剧场作品。邀约在丽江相遇的朋友以饭局的名义一边聊聊生活，艺术和各自的故事。演出形式开放，艺术家将生活与表演融为一体，正如他们的创作理念，将艺术观念还原于生活当中，完成观念本身“从生活中来，消逝在生活中”的生命过程。
整场演出更像是一个快乐的饭局派对，在场的所有观众及参与者其乐融融，一起吃菜，歌唱，聊天，小珂与子涵通过现场的电子音乐和特意设计的剧场时间结构，将看似荒诞的饭局现场凝结成一个当代剧场的现象。饭局期间小珂与日本艺术家随性的即兴舞蹈，之后纳西小伙和耀星端着酒杯开始歌唱，诗人赵野也伴着畅饮现场朗诵自己的诗作，子涵则用体育节目解说的方式，现场解构了小珂即兴的现代舞表演。观众轻松自然的参与其中，有歌，有诗，有音乐，有舞蹈，有杂耍特技，有小孩游戏，有猫狗串场，更有集体的畅饮与吆喝。剧场已然不是什么神圣的殿堂，而是鲜活的在场生活。卖花人小胖带着满满一箩筐的红玫瑰，满场盘问着做生意，最后在观众的欢呼中，一抢而空，剩下饭局主创人小珂子涵去付账。
这些都发生在这个怪诞的剧场作品现场。不仅让观众和参与者反思，到底剧场艺术是什么？到底我们的生活是什么？整个作品60分钟，期间安排了3分钟的沉默，观众们突然遭遇饭桌上所有人的凝固静止，两个电视机屏幕缓缓流淌出子涵事先创作好的影像画面，就像是一场正在进行的梦，瞬间被按了暂停。狂欢的人们被残酷的拉回理智的现实，一股宁静的悲伤缓慢蔓延。3分钟后所有人又像什么都没发生一般，回到喧闹的饭局。静止给予所有参与者及观众一个出口，去反观我们的生活与表演，带着嘲讽的哭泣，骂着“傻逼”，倔强的走向开放的社会剧场。
正如艺术家吴文光曾经说过的一句话“我们做这些艺术有什么球用？！”中国当下的生活就是最精彩的剧场。
