One Year

Tehching Hsieh has done the following "one year performances"

• 1978–1979 - Lived in a cage with nothing but wash basin, pail and a bed. A friend brought him food and water, and photographed him each day, but no human interaction took place.
• 1980–1981 - Punched a time clock in his studio every single hour.
• 1981–1982 - Lived outdoors on the streets of NYC and did not set foot inside a vehicle or building of any kind.
• 1983–1984 - Tethered himself to another artist with an eight foot piece of rope, but did not physically touch her.
• 1985–1986 - Did not view, discuss or produce art.

Pretty incredible.

The catch is that for each piece Mr. Hsieh also established very particular living conditions that required absolute focus, discipline and dedication. These conditions give each piece a stripped down, shocking clarity — a single, obdurate form.

This form was extreme deprivation. For “Cage Piece” Mr. Hsieh deprived himself of nearly all contact with the world. In the next four pieces he eliminated, in succession, concentration, shelter, privacy and finally art itself. In each case he altered the nature of time radically for himself and, retrospectively, us.