At the opening of this Shanghai exhibition
We will have a performance art show
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This performance is counting down from 9 to 1 while walking backwards
And we recruited volunteers from people living in Shanghai
And narrowed it down to about 16 performers
The whole act is performed in Chinese for the first time
9 to 1 represents life
And 0 is death
The back and forth between life and death expresses the eternity of life
I made my international debut in 1988
And I have held exhibitions in 250 to 300 different locations
Although I started with performance art
I also make installations
The core is the same
I use changing, moving numbers
Such as numbers on LED lights
Lit means life
And light comes out when it reaches 0
That means death
I use LED screens in this exhibition
Making a huge work 12-meter high
And accompany it with a pool
The reflection is stunning
Besides life
I'm also fascinated by time
Represent time with lines and circles
Numbers are changing in varying speed
This builds a strong visual
I was always sick as a child
And it happened very often when my ward mates' condition suddenly got worse
And they passed away the next day
That got me thinking about death
And I wanted others to see what I was thinking
That's why I went to Tokyo University of the Arts
I was enrolled in oil painting course but I didn't a lot of oil painting
I did performance art instead
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“Counter Voice in the Water at Fukushima” was a work in 2014
The core of the nuclear power plant was severely damaged by the Tsunami
And it is still prohibited zone
So I performed the show on a boat in nearby sea
The repetition of the act represents the cycle of life
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"Counter Voice in Chinese Ink" was a work from the year before last year
Sink my face into ink
Count down as I do it
The purpose was to make people laugh
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LED became a factor in my creation since 87 or 88
And up till now I still enjoy working with electrical wires
I'm just an ordinary old man
I'm 62...63 years old
I wear these T-shirts and shirts with numbers
Because my face is hard to remember
So I need the help of number shirts
To remind people of me Tatsuo Miyajima