The seemingly random, extreme, or bizarre acts that sometimes make up performance art can be difficult for audiences to grasp, and can even be painful to watch. For example, “Fluidity and Permanence”—the third performance-art festival organized by Hong Kong-based Per.Platform—featured artists eating 22 peaches, binding their bodies with threads, swallowing cotton, and balancing on a wooden bar on a chair. These performances resulted from a series of workshops where creatives of all backgrounds were invited to experiment with the live-art medium. To understand their motives, we spoke with artist and Per.Platform cofounder Florence Lam and four workshop participants. They share the creative process behind their works and how they sought to provoke sensations and a state of focus through their interactions with objects.