Four Quarters of Sorrow
Hohot, Inner Mongolia, China : 2026
A durational performance enacted on a snowy day at −14°C at the 10th Burning Snow International Performance Art Forum & Live Art Festival
69 min
8 January 2026
Process
Carrying a silver suitcase, I walk from the snow into an experimental space.
I sit on a chair and arrange the experimental apparatus: test tubes and a timer.
A 15-minute countdown begins.
I start to weep and collect my tears using laboratory test tubes.
I repeat this four times, for a total of 60 minutes.
The tears from each quarter-hour are collected separately into four test tubes.
As time passes, the tears gradually freeze.
I seal and preserve the tears, then take them away.