Xu Bing (Lecture Response)

Quotation

"Imagine spending four years to make something that says nothing."

This quotation refers to Xu Bing's most widely known work, "Book from the Sky," which, as discussed in earlier posts, was comprised of 4,000 hand-carved characters, all made up by the artist. The project was meant to comment on the manipulative nature of communication and serve as a democratic language, since every viewer shares a non-literacy of the made-up text. The quote Bing used to describe the work sounds negative, however, "saying nothing," regardless of the length of time used to say it, says everything in terms of the concept. The degradation and uselessness of the "message" is the message.


3 Words

New
Materiality
Democratic


About Xu Bing

I learned at the lecture yesterday that Xu Bing was trained very traditionally in Chinese art. His background is in traditional calligraphy and printing, which struck me, considering how seemingly alternative his materials and scale seem to be in his work. During the lecture, Xu Bing spoke a lot about the differences between Chinese and Western art education, as well as the changing political tides in China and the effect this has on Chinese art. Considering the massive amounts of regulation the country underwent in its history, the contemporary art originating there is extremely creative and new. Xu Bing explained that since there still exists such a heavy emphasis on traditional art making, Chinese artists have not lost as much of the fundamentals of creating as Westerners seem to have.


Answers to Questions

1) My first question involved Xu Bing's relationship to Chinese culture, and this relationship affecting his concepts of communication and literature. From the lecture, I gathered Xu Bing, being a Chinese artist, has influenced not only his concepts, but also his art making process. He explained that in China, art education emphasized a central idea of "from life to art," meaning that only from an "understanding of the masses could art be created." This way of thinking obviously influenced his "Book from the Sky" project as well as many others, including "Book from the Ground," because they focus on a general concept of communicating to everyone, regardless of culture or language. His work, in general, seems to be sensitive not only to the Chinese culture, but also at a human level.

2) My second question refers to the aspect of time in many of Xu Bing's project, and what effect, if any, the element of time has on the work. In many of his projects, Xu Bing seems to re-write tradition, using materials pertinent to the subject. In order for the projects to function, it seems they must mimic an institution, whether it be Chinese character printing, book writing, etc. These processes take a lot of time, and I believe the final product is obviously a reflection of the time spent, in a way in which the audience can draw meaning.


Compelling Piece

I thought Xu Bing's piece, "Book from the Ground" was very compelling. It was a book comprised of all symbols which he had gathered from many different sources. The book functions as a tool which allows every person on Earth to share a commonality, because every person can read it. The concept of message, communication and understanding is made clear in this very democratic piece.

Materials: Software, acrylic panel with with printed mylar
Exhibition: "Automatic Update"
Dates: June 27-September 3, 2007
Institution: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York