Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi performing at the Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool

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Bed Guards

Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi are two Chinese performance artists, based in Britain, who work together and specialise in art intervention. They have enacted (unofficial) events at the Venice Biennale and the Turner Prize, where in 1999 they jumped onto Tracey Emin's My Bed. more...

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At the time of the My Bed incident (below) in 1999, Chai was aged 43 and resident in Stoke Newington. He gained a BA from Maidstone College of Art and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1991. (Both colleges had also been attended by Tracey Emin although she was not a contemporary.) Xi was 37, and from Camden Town. He is a Goldsmiths College, University of London graduate.

Two Naked Men Jump into Tracey's Bed

Their best known performance occurred at 12.58 p.m. on October 25, 1999, when they jumped on Tracey Emin's installation My Bed, a work consisting of the artist's own unmade bed, in the Turner Prize at Tate Britain. They called their performance Two Naked Men Jump Into Tracey's Bed (although in fact they kept their underwear on). They had in mind including some \"critical sex\" as they considered \"a sexual act was necessary to fully respond to Tracey's piece\", although this part of their intention was not fulfilled. A visitor reported, \"Everyone at the exhibition started clapping as they thought it was part of the show. At first, the security people didn't know what to do.\" It was not clear to some whether the action was part of Emin's display or even a protest against the current visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Another visitor commented, \"After a few minutes of hopping about and shouting I think they ran out of things to do. If they had tried to wreck it, or stolen the vodka or her knickers, I might have felt differently. It made my weekend.\" The men only had time to start a pillow fight and attempt a swig from one of the empty vodka bottles next to the bed, before they were apprehended. The police and security guards were booed when they took the pair away. Chai and Xi were arrested for their action, but no charges were pressed, since neither the \"gallery nor the artist had any desire to bring the matter further\".

Chai considered that, although Emin's work was strong, it was nevertheless institutionalised and said, \"We want to push the idea further. Our action will make the public think about what is good art or bad art. We didn't have time to do a proper performance. I thought I should touch the bed and smell the bed.\" He had various words written in Chinese and English on his body, such as \"Internationalism\", \"Freedom\" and \"Idealism\". Xi said that the work was not interesting enough and also that he wanted to push it further, increasing its significance and sensationalism. Words written on his body included \"Anarchism\", \"Idealism\" and \"Optimism\".