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American Silkworm Series

PHOTO|VIDEO

ANIMALS

Series

  • American  Silkworm  Series  4:  Silkworm  VCR

    1998
  • American  Silkworm  Series  3:  The  Opening

    1998
  • American  Silkworm  Series  2

    1995
  • American  Silkworm  Series  1:  Silkworm  Books

    1994

Panda Zoo

PHOTO|VIDEO

1998

Location:Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA

Materials: Mixed medIa installation / Live pigs, bamboo, classical paintings


In this work, Xu Bing created an ersatz "authentic" space for gallery visitors to view a well-known symbol of Chinese culture -- the panda bear. Xu Bing's pandas, however, were actually New Hampshire pigs, a breed with natural black-and-white markings similar to those of the panda bear. The artist doctored their appearance with panda masks and let them wander freely inside an elegant "Chinese" enclosure consisting of a bamboo grove against the backdrop of a traditional landscape painting. 

Like a significant number of Xu's works, Panda Zoo explores the implications of the mask, an exploration that extends to his works of invented calligraphy, which the artist describes as ''masked characters.''

ANIMALS INSTALLATION

The Leash

PHOTO|VIDEO

1998

Medium: Site-specific installation

Materials: Iron leash with character links, live sheep


A long iron chain extends from the exhibition hall to the green lawn outside of the museum. A white sheep is leashed at the end. The chain is connected by the words from a poem by John Berger. 

The piece was exhibited at NY PS1 the same year, and the chain of words stretched from the second-floor gallery to the garden on the rooftop.



ANIMALS INSTALLATION

Your Surname Please

Installation view at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, 1998

Installation view at Germany

Installation view at Germany

PHOTO|VIDEO

1998


Materials: Mixed media installation; computers and software

In this interactive computer installation, three computer stations are installed below a display of large wall panels on which various surnames have been inscribed in Xu's invented Square Word Calligraphy. Audience members are invited to sit at one of the stations and type their own surnames out in Standard English on the keyboard. The computer then processes this information, ''transposing'' their surnames into New English Square Word Calligraphy and printing them out for the audience to take away. In this way, the audience experiences a new and intriguing sense of personal connection with Chinese calligraphy.

CHARACTER INSTALLATION NEW MEDIA

American Silkworm Series 4: Silkworm VCR

Installation view at Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, 1998

Details of the work, 1998

PHOTO|VIDEO

1998

Materials: Mixed media installation; VCR, monitor, silkworms

Inside a large open box is placed a VCR and a number of live silkworms spinning silk. The VCR is turned on and a videotape is running, showing a specially edited film of silkworms spinning silk. The sense of time lapse created by the piece leaves the viewer with a subtle doubt about what is "real" and what is not. 

ANIMALS INSTALLATION

American Silkworm Series 3: The Opening

PHOTO|VIDEO

1998


Materials: Mixed media installation; mulberry plant, silkworms, vase

During the exhibition opening, an immense bouquet of blooming mulberry branches is arranged in an oversized vase, displayed in the lobby of the venue. Hundreds of silkworms crawl on the branches and feast on the fresh leaves. Throughout the exhibition period, the mulberry leaves are completely consumed by the silkworms, leaving only naked branches. The silkworms then proceed to spin their silk into silvery cocoons, transforming the bare branches into a scene replete with a new beauty. As in many of his works, Xu's deceptively simple approach embodies a deeper philosophical connotation, grounded in the artist's application of an Eastern perspective to the objectives of contemporary art. The Opening addresses questions such as the uncertainty of an object's true nature and the transformative nature of concepts and boundaries, central themes in Xu Bing's works. 

ANIMALS INSTALLATION