My Boston, 2005, Performance, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA    
    
 When I was young, my mother often told me “ You have to study hard so when you grow up you have a bright future. ” But I never liked to read books. Whenever I read a book my mind always wanders off and I fall fast asleep. I tried many different ways to keep myself awake and concentrate. For example, I would bite my hands, stab my flesh with a pen, and in winter I would dunk my head into a pot of freezing cold water. I couldn't help it, I would forget what I read immediately, so I read again and I still can't remember, not to mention I couldn't understand it at all. Later on, I had a great idea. Everyday I'd tear a page out of a book and eat it. The result was I couldn't digest it at all, and I shit out the exact same thing as I ate. I had many dreams involving books. In one of the dreams I discover all the books that I have ever owned were being blown all over the sky by a mighty wind. Suddenly, in a split second, all the books were floating on the river toward the East. it was very unpredictable.  
 
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中国著名行为艺术家——张洹

张洹1965年生于中国，现在美国生活工作。

张洹是当代中国最著名的观念艺术家。90年代中叶因自虐式行为艺术创作而闻名。对人类最恶劣的生存环境的亲身体验是他的行为艺术创作的核心。其后，他开始大型行为艺术的创作，如由一些赤身裸体的男人和女人包括艺术家自己共同创作的行为艺术"为无名山增高一米"、"九个洞"。等。他带着这些作品到世界各地展览，引起了国际艺术界的关注。

在他刚刚结束我的罗马创作后，我们又再次关注他的艺术的所引发的深层次的思考。

像他本人谈论自身经历时所说的那样：“在作品中我尽力让自己思维离开自己身体，去忘掉身体的处境。而当它回到身体时，你对身体存在的现实感觉就更强烈，你将更知道现状的残酷，让你更不舒服。这超越了不是单纯肉体上的痛苦，而是精神上的不舒服。这种精神与肉体之间的徘徊，是我想要体验的东西。

显然艺术家希望把自己的身体放在别人不可能经历的环境中，并在此环境中体验身体与精神的关系，企图在某种极致的情况下使这种体验更为明确和深刻。这不仅是为了探索人类自身对环境的承受，而且也是通过这种承受某种恐惧感得到释放。

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