In Li Mu’s performances, videos and photographic works, the artist uses basic conceptual guidelines to transform banal situations into events with heightened significance. Oscillating between or mixing the physical and the ‘base’ with a simple, fleeing sensibility, he re-writes our understanding what is desired, acceptable and congruous. In Happy Birthday, a young girl inhabits a shallow stage outfitted with foil stars, a setting reminiscent of a child’s birthday party. As the video unfolds, cakes are continually thrown at the girl until ultimately she and her surroundings are covered in a pastel sugary explosion. Thus a celebratory event digresses into something, demented and primal. Li Mu has had solo exhibitions at the Zendai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China; and has exhibited at the Platform Gallery, Beijing, China. He is currently working on a project with the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven, Holland whereby he outfits his hometown farming village with great works from the Museum’s collection.
