Tehching Hsieh: One Year Performance 1980-1981

Tehching Hsieh: One Year Performance 1980--1981
29 April to 6 July 2014
Carriageworks, Sydney

The artist and curator Nina Miall discuss the second in Tehching Hsieh's one-year performances, commonly referred to as Time Clock Piece.

Interview: Nick Garner
Video © Rococo Productions, 2014

[chrisnaughton]

Wow
I’ve been telling friends about this artist for years and just saw the video
I was at the opening in 1980 in his TriBeCa loft in lower Manhattan
There were about 30 people there
We mingled around for 15 minutes
He came out, didn’t say a word, punched the clock and left
And that was it
I was blown away

[roamlikekane]

You truly have to have a philosphical resolve to endure such a feat. It is obvious that TehChing has this resolve. His clarity in vision and intention is astonishing and truly beautiful. Life is a "life sentence", indeed, and what we do within this paramater is largely based on our free-will.  

[frankmccourt]

I was disappointed to discover he did not punch in every single hour but then it hit me, thats just a perfect example of how human it is to fail. The results are art also

[snehathapa]

This is i cant believe i just discovered it now !!!!

[haraldelpapayo]

Very amazing. I love the description and comments from Nina Miall. Thank you for this.

[jglg]

I've been in my bedroom for the past 6 years, i have never left my house or seen the sky.

[finisaborigine]

I accidentally stumbled upon Mr. Hsieh (through Marina Abramovic). Normally i am quite condescending about what people may call "modern art" or "minimal art" or "contemporary art". But this is sure as hell no "art" in the way the feeble minded creatures call for example shit in a can. This is a stance, a philosophy, a constant play. It is genius and the most original thing to see someone to REALLY express his philosophy and cosmotheory (meaning his perception about life), and to see that people all around the globe ensternize (meaning to adopt) a philosophical movement that has been in the depths of philosophy even from the old years. To reach this kind of level, to say for example that life is a "sentence" you reach in the utmost level of understanding. This root philosophy can be traced back to Pythagoras / Plato and Aristotle and in their deepest teachings. In any case, in the words of Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek Writer (late 19th - mid 20th century), who was nominated for Nobel Prize for Literature, in his work Salvatores Dei (Saviours of the God) aka Ascetic, he says "Ερχόμαστε από μια σκοτεινή άβυσσο. Καταλήγουμε σε μια σκοτεινή άβυσσο. Το μεταξύ φωτεινό διάστημα το λέμε Ζωή", which literally and exactly means "We originate from the dark abyss. Our finish is in the dark abyss. The inbetween time in light, we call Life".

[MasterClassComments]

"Art"?? "Philosophical understanding" No. This is an example of absolute discipline. Hell week? Discipline no, is hell YEAR.

[RyanLynch]

imagine never sleeping for more than an hour for a whole year

[taylormurphy]

“A little damage is good for the system”

[joshuajacobs]

At 6:29 she relates his work to something “baguette e’en”, I obviously don’t know how to spell it that’s what it says in the captions, because I can’t for the life of me find out who she is talking about. Who is this that she is referring to?

[kamenneikoo]

Im surprised his English was that bad considering how long he spent in the US

[alferedfarjam]

The passage of time is nothing but an increase in entropy //We have to use energy to prevent entropy increase, but why can't we stop our aging?

[katmai]

pretty disappointed how this was labeled as a "single minded" activity.

[robvisualstreetphotography]

Sleep 8 hours
Work 8 hours
Play 8 hours

die

[Lineriderforever]

I can't believe that people believe he did this, think about how long a year is. With no sleep. The record is 11 days. This guy says he did that 36 times in a row. Humans can't survive in without PROPER sleep, REM sleep, you can't get that in 1 hour sessions.

[bumpylines]

the fact that Nina Miall could confabulate things in such a tasteful, almost delightful sense of blithe insouciance left me appalled in complete horripilation and now am convinced that humanity is in fact, a scarcity in this day and age.

[MrVersipellis]

did anyone else feel like she had absolutely no clue what she was talking about? bunch of buzzwords :/