'Streaking Brother': An artist with issues

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'Streaking Brother': An artist with issues

By Li Jingjing (Global Times) 11:19, August 06, 2013

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Li Binyuan running naked on the street holding a huge cross early one morning in May on a street in Wangjing area in Beijing. (GT)

Those who live in Wangjing area in Beijing were stunned by some weird things that they witnessed from March to May this year: A naked man was running along the streets around 2 am. Even weirder, sometimes the man was running while holding an inflatable doll, and sometimes he was running or riding an electric scooter while holding a huge cross.

Images of the naked nighttime runner soon spread on social networks. People gave him the nickname "Streaking Brother." Meanwhile, curiosity about the true identity of the runner was aroused. Finally, Li Binyuan, an artist graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), admitted on Sina Weibo that he was the naked runner.

Since his identity was revealed, it was found that running naked wasn't the first "crazy" thing that Li had done in the name of art. Like a lot of other performance artists, most of his works are unique and controversial, such as walking a chicken as a pet during a bird flu epidemic, or shaving and brushing his teeth in a subway.

Why run in the buff?

After revealing himself, Li received a wave of attention from the public. He said the stunt was totally about venting his own emotions and pressures, and had nothing to do with artistic creation. "Like many youngsters my age, I suffer many pressures - financially, emotionally. We almost can't breathe under this social pressure, and running naked is the most natural way to express it," Li said in an interview with the Global Times.

His first streak happened on March 20, and he ran another nine times over the next two months. Li said that he didn't tell others before that breaking up with his girlfriend is actually the direct reason for the first run. He thought of it as a way to "fight against the cold of life." It was an accident that someone saw him, and he received this much attention.

Action artist

Running naked is just one example of his work. And people tend to hear about his work even if they have never heard of the artist.

A series of pictures of Li shaving and brushing his teeth in subway Line 1 in Beijing was published online in 2011. Images of him walking a chicken on a leash when there was an outbreak of bird flu caused quite a stir because most people were slaughtering and avoiding them. Other images show Li holding lit fireworks aloft and shooting them at abandoned buildings scheduled for demolition, to make it look like they are exploding.

Most of his works were activities done alone. He said, "I use my body as a tool in my works. My body is my work."

As people call him the performance artist, he expressed that he regards himself as an "action artist." To him, the definitions are different. "Being a performance artist involves performing, but I do actions that reflect my own problems and use many methods to record them."