Duration: December 21, 2023—June 1, 2025

Title: Mythical Creatures: China and the World

Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibition Link: https://philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/mythical-creatures-china-and-the-world 

Exhibited Work:

Monkeys Grasp for the Moon, 2023

The installation is inspired by an ancient Chinese fable. In order to fetch the moon in the water, a group of monkeys uses their long arms and long tails to form a “monkey chain” hanging down towards the surface of the water. The moon disappeared into nothing when touched by the monkey. Like a string of cursive scripts suspended in the air, the characters of “monkey” in 21 various languages are visualized,  redesigned, and interlinked with each other. The work indicates how people of different races, beliefs, and values are able to share and develop this world together. The work is 30 meters high. Due to space limitations, only part of it is exhibited here.

Duration: December 20, 2023 - March 31, 2024

Title: Opening Ceremony of Hangzhou Center

Location: Hangzhou Center, China

Exhibited Work: Monkeys Grasp the Moon

Duration: September 22, 2023 - Feburary 25, 2024

Title: Motion is Action

Location: By Art Matters, Hangzhou, China

Exhibited Work: Satellite Lake

Book From the Ground: the Language of Drawing

Duration: November 9-30, 2023

Title: MMAF Shanghai

Location: Dongyu Road Taikoo Li, Qiantan, Shanghai, China

Exhibited Work: Artificial Intelligence Infinite Film (AI-IF) Project

Duration: December 27, 2023 - April 30, 2024

Title:  Beijing City Library "Exhibition Season" Public Art Exhibition

Location: Beijing City Library, Beijing, China

Exhibited Work: Book From the Sky, Ground Book

Duration: October 13, 2023

Title: Art Encounters with Jay

Location: 8 Hengshan Road, Shanghai, China

Exhibited Work: Ground Book - Confession Balloon

Duration: June 30, 2023 - October 8, 2023 

Title: White Holes: The Mysteries and Modern Perceptions of Oracle Bone Script

Location: Creative Square, 798 Art District, Beijing 

Exhibited Work: Book from the Ground - The Gene of Reading Pictures

Since 2004, Xu Bing has sought to create a book comprehensible to all human beings using solely public signs. Although it has been more than a decade since the start of this project, it is ever evolving. With the growing globalization of “graphic expression” brought by digital computation, new forms of expressions such as emojis and memes have emerged, particularly popular among young generations. These contemporary signs, seemingly disconnected from ancient traditions, now find their place in the main exhibition hall of the Palace Museum. While the audience may initially struggle to adjust to the translation of  “兰亭集序” in emojis and memes, the resulting sense of alienation produced is essential to this work’s intention—to supply traditional modes of thinking with new “elements”. Through this approach, one may gain a better understanding of both traditional and contemporary cultures.

In contemporary language, “Wujing Cuishi” (“a room assembling five classics”) would mean “library”. Ancient Chinese culture adeptly employed images to convey complex ideas, demonstrating that looking at images is akin to reading texts. “Shu Hua Tong Yuan” (“writing and drawing bear the same root”) is less of a commentary on style, but rather a reflection of semiotics. The way in which the Chinese character “shan” (“mountain”) is written is comparable to the way in which one would draw a mountain. Despite the evolution of signification techniques, hieroglyphs, and coreference in modern Chinese, the hieroglyphic constituents still form the genetic core of the language. For instance, when one reads the word “门” (“door”), one sees the image of a door. If one were to bolt the door, adding a rod/stroke on it, then one arrives at “闩” (“latch”). Even when one writes the character “囧” (“undesirable distress”), it resembles the creation of an emoji.

Winessing the continuity of communication through pictures and images, especially in the context of the cyberpunk and space age, is truly captivating. It evokes a sense of time travel, residing in this juncture and perceiving life’s expansion across time and space. To describe this as merely entering the age of images is somewhat inaccurate, as humanity has been immersed in this mode of communication for thousands of years. Today, our daily lives are deeply intertwined with the use of cell phones, which serve as our portable libraries and museums. As soon as we turn them on, our first instinct is to read the signs they present to us. 

Xu Bing’s profound sensitivity to signs stems from the genetic ability of reading images ingrained within us. It is deeply rooted in humanity’s tradition, and its fullest potential is realized when it is activated.

Duration: June 20, 2023 - October 20, 2023

Title: “1 Tree 1 World ”ANOBO World Children's Science and Technology Art Tour

Location: Today Art Museum, Beijing

Exhibited Work:

Duration: May 18, 2023 - August 13, 2023

Titile: A Journey

Location: Yudeyao Art Museum, Shanghai, China

Exhibited Work: Stone Path

Duration: 16th July - Nov 2023 

Title: Time Gravity 2023 Cheng Du Biennale 

Location: Chengdu Art Museum

Exhibited Work: 

Square Word Calligraphy Classroom

Square Word Calligraphy: The Peach Blossom Spring Story

Study on Early Typography of Square Word Calligraphy

Experiment of writing the longest English word in Square Word Calligraphy

Square Word Calligraphy: Draft for A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, Poem by Zhang Ruoxu

Square Word Calligraphy: Study for writing German words start with the letter K

Xu Bing has designed a calligraphic system known as Square Word Calligraphy in which English words come to resemble Chinese characters. Like a linguistic breeder, the artist combines Chinese calligraphy with English writing to create a new “species”. However, it is different from the nonsensical characters in Book from the Sky which breed feelings of suspicion and confusion in the viewer. Upon reading Square Word Calligraphy, these conflicts are resolved with the immediate revelation that the work contains “real” text. Through this praocess, Xu Bing has introduced a novel Eastern art form into the Western cultural sphere. It transcends established notions of Chinese and English, reshaping perceptual norms and challenging the very foundation of cognition.

After developing this lettering system, Xu Bing created a new installation piece modeled on adult literacy classes within the exhibition space. He also added a textbook, an instructional video, and a practice sheet just like those used in classroom settings. When the audience goes into the gallery, it is as if he or she enters a study space.

Duration: June 2023-

Location: National Museum of World Writing Systems，Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Republic of Korea

Exhibited Work: Book from the Ground

Early Collage for Book from the Ground

Collage book for Book from the Ground

Manuscript for the publication Book from the Ground: from Point to Point

Book from the Ground：In the Subway

Book from the Ground: Her Shenzhen Story

Book from the Ground: from Point to Point (Multiple country editions)

Book from the Ground: Pop-up Book

Book from the Ground: Lan Ting Ji Xu

Web Link：https://www.mow.or.kr/eng/sub02_01_04.do

Photo：叫김용관、양지원、박미리