Outside Location /
MSP Foundation | 1201 Minnesota Street
Minnesota Street Project Foundation and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present the debut of Chaque Souffle Une Danse (Each Breath a Dance), a new performance installation by acclaimed artist Lee Mingwei.
Chaque Souffle Une Danse reflects on the physical and social threats that the simple act of breathing has come to embody since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd’s murder. For this artwork, Lee Mingwei concluded his daily meditation practice by placing a few droplets of sumi ink on an alabaster slate as the sun set, spreading the ink over the surface with several contemplative breaths.
The resulting “breath drawings” serve as the physical context of a meditative 45-minute dance performance. Positioned in a large circle on 60 metal and wood candle stands, the artworks delineate the literal performance space, and provide a metaphysical space for reflection. The performance begins when a single dancer enters the exhibition space, moving slowly among the candle stands. Upon encountering each drawing, the dancer lights a candle. Once all the panels are lit, each candle one by one is then extinguished. Throughout the performance the exhibition space cycles between states of illumination and darkness, offering, Mingwei notes, “viewers a journey through rhythms that punctuate both art and life, a possible contemplation of the symbiosis between opposites, and how one gives meaning to the other.”
Commissioned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Chaque Souffle Une Danse is presented along with the artist’s first major U.S. exhibition, Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care, on view at the de Young museum. Part of the MSP Foundation’s annual series of programs co-presented at 1201 Minnesota, Chaque Souffle Une Danse will be on view from April 5 through May 5, with free, ticketed performances Thursday through Sunday. Performances take place at 7:00 pm on Thursday and Friday, 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.