Artist Jingwei Bu’s performance partner, a droplet, from studio rehearsal.

The 9 Meters Pour

upcoming performance:

The Little Machine Gallery

7-8pm, 22Nov, 2024

6pm ARtist talk in Chinese.

Regent Arcade, Adelaide

"The 9 Meters Pour" is a contemplative performance that delves into the tension between nature’s unrestrained power and flow and humanity's impulse for control. In this one-hour performance I engage with a single drops of tea, guiding their unpredictable journey across a big sheet of watercolour paper. As the tea moves on the smooth surface, I attempt to direct its course: a play between gravity, chance, intention, and surrender. The familiarity I have built up with the primary materials of the performance, tea and paper, allow me to take risk with confidence: embracing the unexpected and letting what happens comes.

The trails left by the tea form intricate patterns, evocative of natural landscapes and waterways—symbols of life’s essential cycles. The stains that emerge on the paper trace the organic formation of these landscapes, a subtle reminder of the preciousness of water as a resource for all living beings. Yet, the human presence in shaping the paths of the tea also introduces a metaphor for contemporary life, where the natural world is continuously marked by human interference. This piece reflects on the complex relationship between the environment, control, and the impact of human actions on the Earth’s natural rhythms.

Informed by the wisdom of water, a key Buddhist Chan teaching, the performance seeks to embody the understanding that true strength lies in fluidity and adaptability, where one can harmonise with the natural flow of life while recognising the importance of releasing the need for constant control.

It’s a public engaged performance, as I might need a few other bodies to hold the paper.

I dedicate this piece of work to my GuildHouse Catapult mentor Lindy Lee for pointing me to the moon”.

—— Artist statement

Part of the Independent Artist Project Development supported by ARTS SA

九米茶道

《九米茶道》是一个以专注力为核心的行为艺术表演，尝试探讨大自然不羁的力量与人类对掌控的渴望之间的紧张关系。在这个为时一小时的表演中，我与一滴茶水互动，引导和跟随它在一张巨大的水彩纸上行走。随着茶在光滑的纸面上流动，我尝试掌控它的轨迹，这个过程充分展现自然地心重力、偶然性、期许与放手之间的博弈。长期以来我与我的艺术材料茶和纸之间建立了极致的连接，使我敢于去迎接冒险，拥抱意外，让一切顺其自然地发生。

茶滴行走留下的轨迹形成了复杂的图案，唤起人们对自然风貌和水域流道的这个象征着生命的基本循环的关联想象。这些茶渍在纸上呈现出如同自然地貌一般的痕迹，提醒我们水资源对所有生命的重要性。在引导茶的路径时，也隐喻了现代生活中，自然世界持续被人类的干预所改变的状况。这件作品反思了人与环境的复杂关系，以及人类行为对地球自然节奏的影响。

受佛教禅宗“水之智慧”教义的启发，这场表演试图体现一种对力量的理解：真正的力量在于流动与适应，在于放下执着的掌控与生命的自然流动和谐共存。

我将这件作品献给我的导师琳迪·李，感谢她指引我看向月亮的方向。”

—— 卜晶玮

感谢南澳洲政府独立艺术家项目发展基金的支持