Yan Shi’s 010013 is set in Anguri Nunu, meaning a lake with swans. This is the place where the nobles of the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125) once hunted swans with eagles. It was said that the blood of those swans dripped down like rain, and historians indicate that it is this culture of violence that ultimately led to the collapse of the Liao dynasty. Today, the memories of this history have been erased from the area and all that remains is a busy road, the site of Yan’s performance.
With a camera taped to his leg, Yan runs across the road, back and forth, avoiding the cars and trucks that are roaring past. Every step is dangerous. The video implies a potential tragedy while gesturing to the precarity of life, captured all on camera. As the artist says, the recording functions “like an anthropological museum that preserves the swan- killing gadget that is usually made of fine jade, like a screwdriver, and can pierce the swan’s skull.”
Moreover, by dangerously traversing the busy highway, the artist– both his vulnerable flesh and the momentum of this crossing action–calls attention to the universal conditions we are faced in 2020: conditions impasse, finiteness, and transcendence.

閻實的《010013》發生在安固裡淖。安固裡淖的意思是有大天鵝的湖泊。這裡是遼代(907-1125)圍獵天鵝的地方。他們用海冬青去攻擊天鵝。當時的描述說，那些天鵝的血，像雨一樣滴下來。那曾是充滿暴力的文化。今天歷史的痕跡已經湮滅，只剩下一條繁忙的道路，像一條動脈連接遠方。
路上汽車朝向公認的正當方向行駛，藝術家腿上綁著相機，在道路上的每一次驚心動魄的穿越，都主動選擇擁抱“赤裸生命“，躲避並抗爭資本碾壓的境遇。在速度與重量的逼迫中，藝術家用身體劃出 一條條縫隙，提示每位觀者我們的生活境域。使我們忘記“赤裸生命” 的風險，蠢蠢欲動。而鏡頭讓這個短暫的行動存檔，傳播，如同博物 館裡保留著的一種遼代貴族殺死天鵝的工具。這個工具是用精美的玉 做成，像改錐一樣，曾用來擊穿天鵝的頭蓋骨。
危險地穿越繁忙的高速公路，藝術家用他脆弱的肉體和穿越行動 , 喚起我們對 2020 年面臨的普遍條件的關注:僵局、有限與超越。

Yan Shi was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in 1975. He studied at the Photography Department of LuXun Academy of Fine Arts and Multimedia and Mixed Media Department at the Art College of Xiamen University. He now lives and works in Beijing.
Yan Shi’s artistic practice is inclusive and unrestricted by media or materials. Yan’s profound observation of contemporary life is deeply rooted in examining, and dialogue with, art historical narratives. His artworks are presented in a straightforward manner, summoning the object itself to speak, and inviting the viewer into the unknown and open- ended exploration.
Yan Shi’s work has been included in exhibitions such as Notes for Tomorrow, ICI, New York and Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, 2021; the Quanzhou Contemporary Art Exhibition, Quanzhou, 2018; “Parallax”, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, 2013; “Phenomena and Situation Since 1985 III”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, 2008; “Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves”, ZKM Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2007; “The 6th Moscow Photo Biennale”, Moscow, 2006; “The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou.