Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 7:30 PM, Olin Arts Center

The artist believes that eventually the “biological millennium” will bring all races together into one mixed group, thus ending cultural conflict. In each of his previous performances he has symbolically wed a partner from another culture or ethnicity. This concept probably will become a reality but at present he is interested in creating a discussion around this concept through his installation at the Bates College Museum of Art.Wenda Gu and his bride will enter the museum space from a white limousine, as young people dressed in red welcome them from the car to the museum. The couple will then exchange wedding vows under the guidance of a Justice of the Peace, performed by museum director Mark Bessire. Each participant will consider the creation of vows and then write the program together. Using huge ink brushes and sheets of paper spread on the floor, the bride and groom will write or draw important aspects of their life leading up to the marriage. After the vows are exchanged, they will draw together their aspirations for the future.

The performance will be presented around and under united nations – 7561 kilometers installed in the Bates College Museum of Art, which conceptually reflects the aspirations of Wenda Gu’s Wedding Life #6. The installation is a collection of hair from around the world brought together into a monument that symbolizes the unification of cultures, to be further intertwined through science and the “biological millennium”.

Wenda Gu in 2000 performance at the Utsunomiya Museum of Art, Japan.