Tehching Hsieh, the Taiwanese-American performance artist, has spent a year in a cage, a year living outdoors, and a year tied to another person. His works, which Marina Abramović calls those of 'the master', push the boundaries of endurance and time.
From September 1978, Hsieh lived in a 11ft 6in x 9ft wooden cage for 365 days, without speaking, reading, or consuming media. In 1980, he began Time Clock Piece, punching a clock every hour for a year. His 1981-1982 piece required him to live outside for a full year, without entering any building or vehicle, during New York's coldest winter of the century.
Hsieh, born in 1950 in Taiwan, left school early and began painting during military service. His first performance, Jump (1973), involved leaping from a second-storey window, breaking both ankles. After moving to the US in 1974 as an undocumented migrant, he worked cleaning jobs and in kitchens while developing his art.
His works are based on concepts and rules, often lasting one year, which he says reflects the human calculation of a year as a cycle around the sun. Hsieh rejects the term 'durational' for his art, noting that any length of time is a duration. He describes his motivation as understanding the world and marking the passage of time, which he says makes everyone equal.
Despite the hardship, Hsieh is modest about his achievements, stating he enjoyed the freedom his art brought. A major retrospective, Lifeworks: 1978-1999, is currently on display at Dia Beacon in New York.
