Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) presents the UK Premiere of Deathless Love a live performance by Chinese performance artist Li Binyuan on Thursday 14 May as part of his current CFCCA exhibition Social Behaviours.

Li Binyuan will enact his ground-breaking performance, Deathless Love to a live audience at CFCCA during Manchester After Hours 2015, a city-wide evening celebration of Manchester’s culture.

The endurance performance features the artist in position on a concrete plinth surrounded by over 100 hammers which he sets out to destroy using only the other hammers and his own physical strength. The performance continues until all the hammers are broken, requiring intense stamina. The work, which first premiered in Beijing in 2012 interrogates ideas of artistic production, liveness and the body as sculpture.

CFCCA curator Ying Tan says:

It is incredibly exciting for us to have Li Binyuan performing live in the gallery. Live art is a crucial part of the contemporary art movement and is redefining relationships between the artist and the audience. Hosting a performance artist with the reputation and energy of Li Binyuan is a huge bonus for Manchester’s growing standing as a platform for international contemporary art.

Li Binyuan’s solo exhibition, Social Behaviours, presents a playfully curated look at his work ranging from video to live action and performance, all dealing with the disruption of social and public life. Recurring themes include repetition, reaction, endurance and using the body in its environment as an art form. As an artist Li Binyuan combines humour with expression and provocation; he is at the same time challenging and maverick, anarchic and irreverent.

Category 1 Li Binyuan Deathless Love from Li Binyuan on Vimeo.