Liv Cuniberti: Tehching Hsieh, Gebunden

Blurb

The only book about the groundbreaking performance artist Tehching Hsieh, dubbed a 'master of the medium' by fellow performance artist Marina Abramovic

This unique monograph on renowned Taiwanese artist Tehching Hsieh showcases 21 years of his radical performance art, a body of work that collapses the boundaries between art, life, and survival. Developed in close collaboration with the artist himself and illustrated with more than 2, 300 images, the book is the authoritative guide to both his first retrospective held at Dia Beacon in New York and his entire life's work.

Across more than 500 pages, the book covers the full archive and complete foundation of Hsieh's artistic legacy from 1978 through 1999, the period during which he enacted his five iconic One Year Performances followed by Tehching Hsieh 1986-1999 (Thirteen Year Plan).

With new scholarship that situates Hsieh's practice in broader contexts, this book incorporates the artist's voice through an in-depth conversation with Heathfield as well as essays by Dia curators, critics, and art historians. It also features an illustrated timeline of archival material - including early artworks made in Taiwan, behind-the-scenes photographs, and contemporary news reports - some of which will be published for the first time.

Hsieh has had work shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Liverpool Biennial in the United Kingdom, and the Gwangju Biennial in South Korea. He also represented Taiwan at the 2017 Venice Biennale in an exhibition curated by contributor Adrian Heathfield.

This book is not only the best way to understand Tehching Hsieh and his uncompromising work; it is also the only place where his works are reproduced in full, revealing the artist's monumental contribution to the history of performance art.