Tehching Hsieh: Lifeworks 1978–1999 marks the first retrospective of the Taiwanese American artist’s groundbreaking durational works. Enacted over a period of twenty-one years, Tehching Hsieh’s One Year Performances followed by his Tehching Hsieh 1986–1999 (Thirteen Year Plan) collapsed the boundaries between art and life through uncompromising restrictions on the artist’s daily existence for radical lengths of time. This presentation at Dia Beacon is the first to bring together all five One Year Performances and includes “Rope Piece” and “Thirteen Year Plan,” which have never been shown before.

The One Year Performances are the foundation of Hsieh’s artistic legacy. In “Cage Piece” (1978–79), he lived locked in a wooden cage, deprived of books, writing, radio, television, or conversation for 365 days. In “Time Clock Piece” (1980–81), he punched a time clock every hour, on the hour, casting himself into 12 months of sleeplessness. In “Outdoor Piece” (1981–82), he lived outside, navigating New York’s streets without shelter through the four seasons. In “Rope Piece” (1983–84), created in collaboration with performance artist Linda Montano, the two lived tied to each other by an eight-foot rope with a ban on physical contact for the duration. Finally, in “No Art Piece” (1985–86), Hsieh refrained entirely from making, viewing, reading about, or speaking of art. Each performance was announced through written declarations and accompanied by witness statements verifying their conduct. They were also intensively documented through photography, time cards, maps, films, sound recordings, and other artifacts.

Hsieh described the principle of duration as central: “One year is [the time the] earth [takes to go] around the sun.” By insisting on the span of a year, he rendered his art indistinguishable from his everyday life. As he said, “To do a piece for one week is to separate my art and my life, to feel myself perform. To do [a] piece for one year is to make art my life, [it] is more powerful.” The assertion of the unity of art and life connects Hsieh to broader currents in postwar Conceptual art, while the intensity of his commitment distinguishes him. The written declarations parallel the instruction-based works of Sol LeWitt, and the persistent repetition of daily acts recalls the serial investigations of On Kawara or Hanne Darboven. However, Hsieh differentiated his practice from his contemporaries by refusing spectacle and favoring durational structures that consumed years of his life.

In addition to probing mental and physical limits against the unrelenting passage of time, Hsieh’s works interrogate the constitution of the self under social and political constraints. In “Cage Piece,” the isolation and confinement mirrored the alienation common to immigrant existence. In “Time Clock Piece,” his body was subjected to exhausting labor, doing “the same thing over and over, like a mechanical man." In “Outdoor Piece,” he confronted survival in extreme precarity and without housing. In “Rope Piece,” he explored the challenges of human relationships: “We become each other’s cage. We struggle because everybody wants to feel freedom.” Montano reflected on how the enforced proximity reshaped their communication; from words, to gestures, and then grunts, “It regressed beautifully.”

This trajectory culminated with “Thirteen Year Plan” (1986–99), in which Hsieh produced work but withheld it from public view from the mid-1980s up to the millennium. He later remarked, “My idea is that time becomes the main thing. . . . It doesn’t matter what I do, I pass time.” Now, the retrospective exhibition he spent years conceptualizing, and has been adapted for Dia Beacon becomes itself a film strip, representing time through the space: “These [exhibition] spaces are ‘art time’; the gaps between the spaces are the intervals between my performances, which I call ‘life time.’” For Hsieh, “The process of passing time itself is the artwork.” 

 —Adrian Heathfield and Humberto Moro with Liv Cuniberti

《謝德慶：1978–1999生命作品展》是這位美籍台裔藝術家的大膽創新的長時間持續行為藝術作品的首次回顧展。謝德慶的《一年行為表演》系列及其後續的《謝德慶：1986–1999》（《十三年計畫》）歷時二十一年完成。這些作品透過極長時間對藝術家本人的日常生活施加嚴苛的限制，徹底打破了藝術與生活的界限。此次在 Dia Beacon（迪亞畢肯美術館）的展覽，首次完整呈現五件《一年行為表演》系列作品，本次展覽還包括從未展出過的《繩子》與《十三年計畫》。

《一年行為表演》是謝德慶的藝術承傳的奠基之作。在《籠子》（1978–79）中，他把自己鎖在一個木籠子裡長達 365 天，沒有書籍、書寫、收音機、電視作伴，也不能交談。在《打卡》（1980–81）中，他每小時準點打卡，為此忍受了長達 12 個月支離破碎的睡眠。在創作《戶外》（1981–82）期間，他四季棲身戶外，在紐約街頭顛沛流離，風餐露宿。《繩子》（1983–84）是與行為藝術家 Linda Montano (琳達·蒙塔諾）合作完成的，兩人以一根八英尺長的繩子連繫起來共同生活，但期間不能有任何身體接觸。最後，在《不做藝術》（1985–86）中，謝德慶完全不進行藝術創作，也不觀看、閱讀或談論藝術作品。每一場行為表演均以書面聲明宣佈，並附有見證人陳述，證明他們的行為。這些作品也透過攝影、打卡記錄、地圖、影片、錄音和其他實物資料被詳細記錄下來。

謝德慶稱長時間持續是其藝術創作的核心原則：「一年，是地球繞太陽一周的時間。」藉由一年的堅持，他讓自己的藝術與日常生活融為一體。正如他所說：「一週的創作，是把我的藝術和生活割離開來，會感覺到自己在表演。而一年的創作，是讓藝術成為我的生活，這樣的力量更為強大。」謝德慶對藝術與生活合一的主張，是他與戰後觀念藝術主流的共通之處；而他對創作投入的極致程度，又令他在同輩藝術家中獨樹一幟。謝德慶的文字聲明，與 Sol LeWitt（索爾·勒維特）基於指令創作的作品有異曲同工之妙；而他對日常行為的不斷重複，則讓人聯想到河原溫或 Hanne Darboven（漢內·達爾博文）的序列化探究作品。然而，謝德慶與同輩藝術家不同的是，他拒絕追求視覺衝擊的表演，更傾向於耗費他數年生命的長時間創作結構。

除了探索隨著時間無情流逝而產生的身心極限挑戰之外，謝德慶的作品還審視了在社會與政治束縛下「自我」的構成。在《籠子》中，隔離與禁錮映射出移民生活中常見的疏離感。在《打卡》中，他的身體承受著耗盡精力的勞作，「反反覆覆地做同一件事，像個機械人」。在《戶外》中，他在顛沛流離、居無定所的狀態下面對生存問題。在《繩子》中，他探討人際關係的挑戰：「我們成為了彼此的牢籠。我們掙扎，因為每個人都渴望感受自由。」琳達·蒙塔諾回憶起，這種強制的近距離相處如何重塑了他們的溝通方式；從語言，到手勢，再到咕噥聲：「這個退化的過程真是妙不可言。」

這一創作軌跡最終以《十三年計畫》（1986–99）達到頂峰，在該計畫中，謝德慶創作了作品，但從 1980 年代中期到千禧年期間，始終將作品隱匿，不向公眾展示。後來他說：「我的想法是，時間成為了最重要的東西……我做什麼並不重要，我只是在度過時間。」如今，他花了數年時間構思的回顧展，經過一番適配調整後在 Dia Beacon（迪亞畢肯美術館）展出，本身就變成了一部電影膠片，透過空間來展現時間：「這些（展覽）空間是『藝術時間』；空間之間的間隙，是我表演之間的間隔，我稱之為『生活時間』。」對謝德慶而言，「度過時間的過程本身就是藝術品」。

—Adrian Heathfield（艾德里安·希思菲爾德）、Humberto Moro（亨貝托·莫羅）和 Liv Cuniberti（莉芙·庫尼貝蒂）合著

All works courtesy Tehching Hsieh and Dia Art Foundation, unless otherwise noted

1. One Year Performance 1978–1979 (Cage Piece), 1978–79

a. Statement, September 30, 1978 

b. Poster 

c. 365 Self-portraits
Black-and-white photographs (10 negatives damaged) on paper mounted on aluminum composite
Photo: Cheng Wei Kuong

d. Witness statement by Robert Projansky, September 30, 1979

e. Cage 
Pinewood dowels and frames, 247 paper seals signed by Robert Projansky, drywall, metal bed frame, mattress, pillow, blanket, uniform shirt and pants, leather boots, footprints, metal bucket, sink and plumbing, mirror, towel rack, bath towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, plastic soap dish, soap bar, sponge, nail clipper, drinking glass, glass carafe, tea bag, wood toothpick, paper-towel roll, toilet-paper roll, light fixture and bulb, Nikon film camera, and tripod

f. 22 Life images
Digital slideshow of black-and-white photographs 
Photo: Cheng Wei Kuong and (image 16) Claire Fergusson

2. One Year Performance 1980–1981 (Time Clock Piece), 1980–81

a. Statement, April 11, 1980

b. Poster

c. 366 Time cards 

d. 8760 Hours of images
Color photographs on paper 

e. Vitrine 
Leather boots; uniform shirt; leather belt; Sony cassette recorder with audio tape, two cables, speaker, and microphone; and Casio wristwatch 

f. Vitrine
Explanation of procedures (n.d.), witness statement by David Milne (April 11, 1980), final witness statement by David Milne (June 11, 1981), missed-punches record (April 11, 1980–April 11, 1981), time-card chads, “waiting to punch the time clock” (color photograph on paper, photo: Cheng Wei Kuong), “punching the time clock” (color photograph on paper, photo: Michael Shen), “taking the picture” (color photograph on paper, photo: Michael Shen), and “sleeping” (color photograph on paper, photo: Tehching Hsieh) 

g. Paillard-Bolex 16 mm camera 

h. Time Clock film 
16 mm film, color, silent, 6:55 min.
Documentation: Tehching Hsieh 

i. Amano time clock

3. One Year Performance 1981–1982 (Outdoor Piece), 1981–82

a. Statement, September 26, 1981

b. Poster, fall 1981

c. 20 Life images, fall 1981 
Black-and-white photographs on paper mounted on aluminum composite

d. Outdoor Piece daily life
DVD transferred from Super 8 mm film, color, with sound, 31:41 min.
Documentation: Robert Attanasio, Tehching Hsieh, and (arrest) Claire Fergusson

e. 366 Daily maps

f. Poster, winter 1981

g. 23 Life images, winter 1981 
Black-and-white photographs on paper mounted on aluminum composite

h. Poster, spring 1982

i. 19 Life images, spring 1982 
Black-and-white photographs on paper mounted on aluminum composite

j. Spring gathering
Digital video transferred from Super 8 mm film, color, with sound, 7:50 min.
Documentation: Robert Attanasio

k. Poster, summer 1982

l. 11 Life images, summer 1982 
Black-and-white and color photographs on paper mounted on aluminum composite

m. Vitrine 
Backpack with statement (September 26, 1981), sleeping bag, parka, Woolrich winter vest, Alpha Industries field jacket, thermal underwear, Lee jeans with leather belt, “I love NY” bag with foil blanket, “Camera World” bag, olive-green knit cap, black knit- cap, small sweater, heavy-wool sweater, turtleneck, long-sleeve canvas shirt, hand towel, bath towel, pair of insulated gloves, pair of knit gloves, single left glove, three pairs of Hanes underwear, pair of leg warmers, four pairs of Burlington Gold Cup crew socks, pair of Solaris socks, four pairs of crew socks, two pairs of sport crew socks, two pairs of knit socks, pair of thermal socks, single sock with red trim, pair of Converse All Star sneakers, pair of leather work boots, Sony portable radio, Swiss Army knife, dog tag, ball, spoon, scissors, tooth-brush, soap container, and four pens
Detroit Institute of Arts; gift of Lila and Gilbert Silverman Collection

n. Vitrine
Arrest record, May 3, 1982

4. Art/Life One Year Performance 1983–1984 with Linda Montano (Rope Piece), 1983–84

a. Statement, July 4, 1983 

b. 367 Life images 
Color photographs on paper

c. Sealed audio cassettes of daily conversations between Tehching Hsieh, Linda Montano, and others
Audio tapes, plastic cases, stainless-steel frames, and paper seals dated and signed by the artists

d. Rope Piece opening
Digital video transferred from Super 8 mm film, black-and-white, silent,18:22 min.
Documentation: Chihung Yang

e. Poster

f. Vitrine 
Accidental-touch record (July 5, 1983–May 10, 1984), Sony cassette recorder, and Yashica camera with strap and case

g. Vitrine
Witness statement by Pauline Oliveros (July 4, 1984), nylon rope with engraved lead seals, and witness statement by Paul Grassfield (July 4, 1984)

h. Rope Piece closing
Digital slideshow of 6 black-and-white photographs 

i. Poster

5. One Year Performance 1985–1986 (No Art Piece), 1985–86

a. Statement, July 1, 1985

b. Poster

6. Tehching Hsieh 1986–1999 (Thirteen Year Plan), 1986–99 

a. Statement, December 31, 1986  

b. Poster 

c. Final poster 

7. Architectural model, 2025
Paper and pinewood

Tehching Hsieh was born in Nanzhou, Taiwan, in 1950. He is renowned for major performance works that revolutionized the conceptual, physical, aesthetic, and temporal limits of the medium in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Hsieh dropped out of high school in 1967 and took up painting. Following three years of mandatory military service, he had his first solo show at the gallery of the American News Bureau, Taipei, in 1973. Shortly after, Hsieh stopped painting entirely and pivoted to performance. He began with a group of works dealing with action and its traces in documents, culminating in Jump (1973), in which he recorded his fall from a second-story window, breaking both of his ankles. Starting in the late 1970s, Hsieh made a series of five One Year Performances. In 1986, he announced his “Thirteen Year Plan,” during which he would continue making art but not show it publicly. Since the millennium, Hsieh has exhibited elements of his oeuvre at major biennials, festivals, and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and Tate Modern, London. In 2017, Hsieh represented Taiwan at the Venice Biennale with his acclaimed exhibition Doing Time. Hsieh lives in Brooklyn.

Tehching Hsieh | September 25, 2025

Tehching Hsieh | October 3, 2024