Neo China Pulse Exhibition: Special Performance by Dai Ying
Event Date:2026/8/ 8 (Saturday)
Open Time:Morning: 11:30
Afternoon: 2:30
(The performance will last approximately 10 to 15 minutes.)
Place:Karuizawa New Art Museum, 2nd Floor, Exhibition Room 2
Conduct:Curator
Entry fee:Exhibition admission ticket only
Target:From children to adults (infants must be accompanied by a guardian)
Karuizawa New Art Museum
Tel. 0267-46-8691
Exhibition Section
We will be hosting a performance event by Dai Ying.
Dai Ying (born 1983 in Sichuan Province, China) is an artist based in Beijing and New York who works across diverse media. Having studied traditional Chinese calligraphy and ink painting since the age of five, she develops a unique style that fuses Eastern spirituality with contemporary art.
The video "Red" (2025) on display is a performance first presented in Hong Kong that embodies the creation of life and an exploration of the body, perception, and spirituality, and is part of a set with the large-scale installation "Temple 2".
"Temple 2" is an immersive space made of over 2 hand-dyed Xuan paper sheets, designed to allow viewers to crawl through its interior and experience what it's like to be inside life itself. In the video, the artist crawls out of the interior wearing a bloodstained white coat, with his eyes covered and his mouth tied shut with a red cloth.
This work attempts to reconstruct a fundamental relationship with the world through touch, breath, and gravity by temporarily setting aside sight and language. While starting from a woman's bodily experience, it views birth, blood, pain, and regeneration as common origins for all life, and questions how life encounters the world and shapes perception.
Performance objectives:
① Considering the origin of life from the perspective of the body
- The female body is viewed as the site of life's birth, and blood, pain, and regeneration are presented as universal experiences of life.
② Reconsidering the perception of the world centered on sight and language.
- By deliberately blindfolding and tying the mouth, the body's natural senses, such as touch and breathing, are awakened.
③ To evoke the audience's own physical sensations.
This performance is not meant to help people understand the story or the symbols, but rather to allow them to feel "the first connection with the world" through the artist's own body.
Why not come and witness this performance again live? We look forward to seeing you there.
Dai Ying, "Temple 2," 2025.
The exhibition overview isCLICK HERE.You can see from the link.
REPORT
Wearing a long white dress, Dai Ying painted her face, arms, and the rest of her body a single shade of red, reminiscent of blood and fire.
Appearing in front of the large-scale installation "Temple 2," the dancers wandered the space, their bells ringing, and performed a fierce, sometimes even frenzied, dance as they looked up to the sky.
From the middle of the performance onwards, there were intense sobs, and then overwhelming screams that echoed all the way to the first floor of our building.
The approximately 20-minute performance, which relentlessly confronts the viewer with physical pain and the fundamental energy of life, deeply shakes their perception.
It was a performance that overwhelmed all five senses.
Held twice, in the morning and afternoon, the event was attended by approximately 20 guests at each session and concluded with great success amidst a breathtaking atmosphere of tension and energy. We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who attended.
A video recording of this performance will be released at a later date.
The immersive space of "Temple 2," brought to life by Dye Yin, remains on display, so please come and experience its lingering impact at our museum.
◇The video (digest version) of their enhanced performance in Karuizawa is available hereCLICK HERE.You can see from the link.
