Tehching Hsieh is a noted New York City base performance artist. Hsieh accomplished five One Year Performance from 1978 to 1986 and worked on Thirteen-Year Plan from 1986 to 1999. In his Cage Piece, the artist locked himself in a cage for one year. He was tied to Linda Montano for a year during the Rope Piece. Punched a time clock every hour for a year, his Time Clock Piece has been exhibited in the Guggenheim Museum. Some of his works has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in 2009.

Tehching Hsieh was born in Nan-Chou, Taiwan in 1950. He dropped out high school in 1967 and took up painting. After finishing compulsory military service (1970-73), Hsieh had his first solo show at the gallery of the American News Bureau in Taiwan. Shortly after, Hsieh stopped painting. In 1973 He made a performance action, “Jump Piece”, in which he broke both ankles. He then trained as a seaman, which he used as a means to enter the United States. In July of 1974, Hsieh arrived at a small port near Philadelphia. He was an illegal immigrant in the States for fourteen years until he was granted amnesty in 1988. Starting in the late nineteen seventies, Hsieh made five One Year Performances and a Thirteen Year Plan, inside and outside his studio in New York City. Using long durations, making art and life simultaneous, the first four One Year Performances made Hsieh a regular name in the art scene in New York; the last two pieces, intentionally retreating from the art world, set a tone of sustained invisibility. Since the millennium, released from the restriction of not showing his works during a thirteen-year period, Hsieh has exhibited his work in North and South America, Asia and Europe. Hsieh lives in Brooklyn, New York.

He is most known for six durational performance pieces completed between 1978 and 2000. One Year Performance 1978–1979 (Cage Piece) In this performance, which lasted from 29 September 1978 through 30 September 1979, the artist locked himself in an 11.5-by-9-by-8-foot wooden cage, furnished only with a washbasin, lights, a pail, and a single bed. During the year, he was not allowed to talk, read, write, or listen to radio and TV. A lawyer, Robert Projansky, notarized the entire process and made sure the artist never left the cage during that one year. A friend came daily to deliver food, remove the artist’s waste, and take a single photograph to document the project. In addition, this performance was open to being viewed once or twice a month from 11 am to 5 pm. One Year Performance 1980–1981 (Time Clock Piece) For one year, from 11 April 1980 through 11 April 1981, Hsieh punched a time clock every hour on the hour. Each time he punched the clock, he took a single picture of himself, which together yield a 6-minute movie. He shaved his head before the piece, so his growing hair reflects the passage of time. Documentation of this piece was exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2009, using film, punch cards, and photographs. This work was the first of Hsieh’s ever to be displayed in the UK at the Liverpool Biennial in 2010. One Year Performance 1981–1982 (Outdoor Piece) In his third one-year performance piece, from 26

September 1981 through 26 September 1982, Hsieh spent one year outside, not entering buildings or shelter of any sort, including cars, trains, airplanes, boats, or tents. He moved around New York City with a packbag and a sleeping bag. One Year Performance 1983-1984 (Rope Piece) In this performance, Hsieh and Linda Montano spent one year between 4 July 1983 and 4 July 1984 tied to each other with an 8-foot-long (2.4 m) rope. They had to stay in a same room while not allowed to touch each other until the end of the one year period.Both of them shaved their hair in the beginning of the year, and the performance was notarized initially by Paul Grassfield and later by Pauline Oliveros. One Year Performance 1985–1986 (No Art Piece) For one year, Hsieh did no art, spoke no art, saw no art, read no art, and did not enter any museum or gallery.

Tehching Hsieh 1986–1999 (Thirteen Year Plan) At the beginning of this epic piece, Hsieh declared, “Will make Art during this time. Will not show it publicly.” This plan began on his 36th birthday, 31 December 1986, and lasted until his 49th birthday, 31 December 1999. At the end, on 1 January 2000 he issued his concluding report, “I kept myself alive. I passed the December 31st, 1999.” The report consisted of cutout letters pasted onto a single sheet of paper.

Presented by Chinese Artist Alliance of New York City, The New School India China Institute. Supported by The New School CSSA