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Room (5) Flesh
2022-2023
Video installation
LCD screen, tiles, wooden door, chair, metal
Single-channel HD video, color, sound
6 min 05 sec (censored version)

This is an installation in which, through the half-open door of a dilapidated bathroom, theviewer can observe the image fragment of an LCD screen reflected in a mirror. In the reflectedimage, an older, semi-nude woman (Violette) rubs the folds of her skin in another bathroom.This dancer is chosen precisely because it’s out of the ordinary to see an elderly woman’snaked body and its physical tensions. She takes a long look at herself in the mirror, stretchingher body to highlight her sternum, shoulder blades, ribs and spine. These protruding bonesseem to emerge from the skin that envelops them, evoking the raw, raw aspect of theperformance, brimming with physical vitality. The performance tends towards a martyrdomritual with a touch of blasphemy.

«Room» series

In « Room «, Yao Qingmei collaborateswith five contemporary dancers andperformers, gathered successively in thesame standardized hotel room to explorethe space. All have different physiques,genders, ages and skin tones, andpractice different types of dance. YaoQingmei maintains the diversity of thedancers’ profiles, subtly capturing theindividuality of each and guiding theirphysical expressions, urging them toexplore the various angles of an enclosedspace. These experiences are born of the artist’spersonal observations and perceptionsof the details of the hotel room during hisisolation in 2021 in Shanghai. Yao seeksan empathetic physical experiencedrawn from the improvisations of bodiesin the «room». This place refers notonly to a confined space, but also to apsychological one. This video seriesis the most reality-related part of the«mole» exhibition, a true testament tothe physical expression of dancers inan enclosed space, where the freedom,agility and diversity of the bodiesthemselves transcend the physical limitsof space and stereotypes.

Room "Flesh"

肉, Chair

Room "Rub"

拭, Frotter

Room "Observ"

观, Observer

Room "Walk"

行, Marcher

Room "Wrap"

裹, Draper

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