Zhe Yang

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD LIFE (2025) is a performance and installation born from my impractical urge to build a boat. This work transcends deconstructivism, embracing romanticism, and symbolizes Mehmed II’s audacious land-bound voyage during Byzantium’s conquest and the resilience of southwestern China’s ethnic minorities carrying boats over hills to find rivers. Over 60 days and nights, I crafted a vessel from scratch using wood, human effort, and sheer determination. On January 25th, starting at dawn, I carried the boat on shoulders and legs across London, tracing places I’ve lived, and navigated Regent’s Canal for three hours to reach Dilston Grove church—a poetic start and endpoint, suspended beneath the sky. This 11-hour journey, captured by camera, embodies fearless imagination. I invite you to join me in embracing bold, impractical dreams.

Materials: Wood, camera, human shoulders, ganglion cysts in fingers.