Sightseeing

Year 2021

Performance with photographic documentation and a poem

The performance took place in my hometown in China, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poem

I cycled to the park for a sightseeing,
a black fox was taking a leak when it saw me.
I wanted to hide what I saw amongst the leaves and trees,
but I couldn’t do it in front of the Border Collie.
…
This has increased my anxiety,
I was not sure if the fox was going to chase me.

The trees whisper in dark murmurs.
They speak unspoken truths of the estranged futures,
from what they have witnessed in the past.

My mind wanders off to the space in between the leaves,
as I thought it could be a new vessel for me.

— ‘Sightseeing’, Haiyi He