On April 21, 2018, the International Art Exhibition “Time of Continuity” opened at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing 798. The exhibition was curated by German curators Raimund Rosarius and Susanne Matz. The theme of the exhibition was to commemorate German poets Bachmann and Paul Celan in their opposition to all forms of violence. Li Xinmo presented a performance titled Drink Blue. This performance is inspired by Paul Celan's poem "I AM THE FIRST":
I AM THE FIRST
to drink of the blue that still looks for its eye
I drink from your footprint and see:
You roll through my fingers, pearl, and you grow!
You grow, as do all the forgotten.
You roll: the black hailstone of sadness
Is caught by a kerchief turned white with waving goodbye.
(Translated by Michael Hamburger.)
In the center of the space, there was a glass jar filled with clear water, surrounded by white bones. Li Xinmo picked up the bones one by one and placed them around the glass jar, forming a cross. Finally, she placed the skull in the water at the bottom of the jar. She then lifted a bag of rice, letting the grains flow down and spill onto the ground and the white bones. She crawled on the ground covered with rice grains, picked up the bones one by one with her mouth, and placed them in the glass jar until the last one. Next, she took out a bottle of blue powder, poured it into her mouth, and immersed her head in the water. She recited Celan's poem "I AM THE FIRST" while submerged. The blue powder dissolved into the water, turning it blue. She choked repeatedly, lifting her head out of the water, drinking more blue powder, and immersing herself again to continue reading the poem. By the end, the water had turned completely blue. Through the glass jar, people could see the white bones now soaked in blue water.
The white bones in the performance symbolize death as depicted in Celan's poems. The bones, covered by white rice, also evoke the cruel history of the Great Famine. Immersion in water represents a brutal punishment, with the head pressed underwater, causing choking and suffocation. Kneeling on rice, another form of punishment, involved crawling on rice grains while holding human bones. The performance included improvisational music and dance by musician Fanny and dancer Amy, characterized by dark, slow music and movements. This performance combines poetry, installation, music, and dance, creating a unique theatrical experience.
