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  • Square Word Calligraphy Classroom
  • Travelling to the Wonderland
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  • Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?
  • Landscript
  • Art for the People
  • American Silkworm Series
  • Cultural Animal
  • Purple Breeze Comes from the East
  • The Tide's Story
  • A Consideration of Golden Apples
  • Excuse Me Sir, Can You Tell Me How to Ge...
  • Telephone
  • Cultural Negotiations
  • Five Series of Repetitions
  • A, B, C...
  • Air Memorial
  • Tobacco Project III: Richmond
  • Tobacco Project II: Shanghai
  • Tobacco Project I: Durham
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Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

Silkworm Book: The Analects of Confucius

PHOTO|VIDEO

2020 


Materials: Book, silkworm

Dimensions: 1.5 (H) x 52 (L) x 42 (W) cm

Exhibition Location: Asia Society Triennial, New York, U.S.A.

CHARACTER ARTIST BOOKS ANIMALS INSTALLATION

Poem Stone Chairs

PHOTO|VIDEO

This is a set of stone chairs carved with Xu Bing’s Square Word Calligraphy that reads an ancient poem “Reflections While Reading” by Zhu Xi (Southern Song Dynasty). “A small square pond, an uncovered mirror where sunlight and clouds linger and leave. I asked how it stays so clear. It said spring water keeps flowing in.” With Square Word Calligraphy, Xu Bing devises a system of writing English words in rectangular arrangements resembling Chinese characters. By intertwining the art of Chinese calligraphy and English letters, Xu Bing invents a new hybrid of language.

CHARACTER INSTALLATION SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Background Story: Landscape After Huang Gongwang

Background Story: Landscape After Huang Gongwang, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, 2019

Background Story: Landscape After Huang Gongwang, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, 2019

Background Story: Landscape After Huang Gongwang, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, 2019

Background Story: Landscape After Huang Gongwang, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, 2019

PHOTO|VIDEO

2019


Materials: Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel

Exhibition Location: Suzhou Museum, Suzhou


In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story."

- Xu Bing

INSTALLATION

Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing

Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Installation view of Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Installation view of Background Story: Returning Late from a Spring Outing, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

PHOTO|VIDEO

2019 


Materials: Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel

Exhibition Location: Indonesia, Jakarta, Museum MACAN


In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story."

- Xu Bing

INSTALLATION

Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley

Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, 2019

PHOTO|VIDEO

2019


Materials: Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel

Exhibition Location: Indonesia, Jakarta, Museum MACAN


In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story."

- Xu Bing

INSTALLATION

Background Story: Spring Clouds and Layered Peaks

Background Story: Spring Clouds and Layered Peaks, Basel Hong Kong, 2019

Background Story: Spring Clouds and Layered Peaks, Basel Hong Kong, 2019

Background Story: Spring Clouds and Layered Peaks, Basel Hong Kong, 2019

PHOTO|VIDEO

2019 


Materials: Light box and natural debris

Location: Art Basel Hong Kong


"In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story."

- Xu Bing


INSTALLATION

Square Word Calligraphy: Three Indonesian Proverbs

PHOTO|VIDEO

CHARACTER

The Grand Canal

PHOTO|VIDEO

Life on Earth found sustenance when water permeated the crevices of the land, just as the beauty of Chinese ink and wash emerged when the brush-pen glided through the cracks of xuan paper. Within the sphere of China’s highest esteemed figures, those who possess deep wisdom always leave room for the natural and adapt accordingly. They hold reverence for nature and align their actions with the intentions of heaven.

CHARACTER NEW MEDIA