Porcelain sculptures have long been admired for their delicate beauty and intricate craftsmanship, but their role in performance art is often overlooked. Here are some of the most notable examples where porcelain takes center stage in performance art.

1. Ai Weiwei’s “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” (1995) – This provocative performance piece featured the artist smashing a 2,000-year-old Han Dynasty urn, challenging perceptions of cultural heritage and value. The act of destruction transformed the porcelain artifact into a powerful commentary on modernity and tradition.

2. Sergei Isupov’s Ceramic Performances – Isupov’s porcelain sculptures often depict human figures in surreal, dreamlike scenarios. His live demonstrations, where he sculpts and paints porcelain in front of an audience, blur the line between creation and performance.

3. Theaster Gates’ “Soul Manufacturing Corporation” (2012) – Gates incorporated porcelain fragments into a performance that explored labor, race, and material culture. The broken porcelain became a metaphor for fragmented histories and resilience.

4. Klara Kristalova’s “Porcelain Theatre” – Kristalova’s installations feature porcelain sculptures that resemble characters from dark fairy tales. Her performances often involve interacting with these sculptures, creating eerie, narrative-driven experiences.

5. Yeesookyung’s “Translated Vase” Series – Using shards of discarded porcelain, Yeesookyung crafts new sculptures through a performative process of repair and transformation. Her work highlights the beauty of imperfection and the stories embedded in broken objects.

These examples demonstrate how porcelain sculptures transcend static art forms, becoming dynamic elements in performance art that provoke thought and emotion.