Artist Interview｜“Ink Walking”

In this piece of performance art, Shi will hold a bowl filled with ink in his hand and walk without pause.
Any time ink spills out, he will refill the bowl with water. This act will continue for several days until no ink remains in the bowl, only water.
Inspiration for this piece comes from a story in the Buddhist scriptures: A convict was ordered to carry a bowl of oil from the southernmost part of the city to its northernmost end. If he managed to perform the journey without spilling a drop of oil, he would be granted pardon. The moral of this story is that we should cultivate concentration and mindfulness in our practice. In Shi's work, the replacement of ink with water is symbolic of transformation, a purification process.