笑迎八方宾客

In 2013 I visited Chongqing. Shortly after my arrival, I went around the countryside with two European artists friends. In the beautiful winter landscape we were the only people enjoying the outside weather. It was then, when I noticed red coloured banners reoccurred on the road side with big white letters printed on them. After returning to the mega-city Chongqing, I asked my Chinese colleagues for the meaning of the inscriptions. To my surprise I got two different translations of one of those texts: “Guests from All Directions, Welcome with a Smile” and “Guests from Eight Directions, Welcome with a Smile”. As a European, when I think of “all directions”, it always means four, but in China, it obviously means eight directions. This difference in the perception inspired me to create an 8-channel video installation, filmed on the construction site of a former 4-line bridge near Chongqing Bei. I invented a dance imitating these Chinese characters 笑迎八方宾客, filmed the dance eight times toward eight directions on the construction site of the former bridge. While recording toward the East, a man entered the scene and took a seat, before I performed the dance.