Xu Bing

11/13/2018

Sam Fresquez

Xu Bing was born in Chongqing China in 1955. His mother was a librarian and his father was the head of the history department at Peking University. In 1975 the Cultural Revolution was coming to an end in China. As a part of Mao Zedong's "re-education" policy he was moved into the countryside and forced to work as a sign painter making propaganda.This experience eventually became the foundation to the work he would make. In 1977 he returned to Beijing and enrolled in the Central Academy of Fine Art to study printmaking. He earned his masters in 1987, and later in 1990, moved to the United States because of the pressure being put on artists after Tiananmen Square. He lived in the States until being appointed the new vice president of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2008.

Xu Bing often uses calligraphy and sculpture in his work to explore his experiences with communication. He is most known for his piece Tianshu or Book from the Sky. This installation was made of rows of hanging scrolls that filled a room. On these scrolls were over 4,000 character that he had designed to look like like Chinese text but were actually meaningless.

Another piece he is known for is New English Calligraphy, a projected he started after living in the United States for four years. He designed characters that were made to look like Chinese but are actually made out of English words. He then gave lessons on how to write in these characters. When New English Calligraphy is displayed he often uses nursery rhymes to give an example.

Xu Bing started his tobacco projects when he was invited to be the artist-in-residence at Duke University in 2000. He was interested in the Duke Family history which led him to tobacco. This led to a series of work using cigarettes, and tobacco. The most known of these is a tiger skin rug made from around a half a million cigarettes. Tiger-skin rugs are a symbol go human dominance. “It confirms our superiority by transforming one of nature’s fiercest predators into a lifeless skin beneath our feet.” Xu Bing also compares the way fur and skin rugs can glamorize hunting with the way smoking can often be glamorized. Other projects that were a part of this series included prints on tobacco leaves, a tree with branches made of matches, and a compressed cube of tobacco with the words “light as smoke” on the top o

Merryn Alaka

11/15/2018 01:14:18 pm

Sam,

I found Xu Bing's work not only beautiful aesthetically, but very intriguing overall. The calligraphy that resembled Chinese characters was espeically interesting. At first glance our minds automatically reject the symbols as foreign (if you're unfamiliar with Mandarin), but after further inspection our minds start to break down the characters, finding the familiarity in the symbols that actually are in english.

Ren Ta

11/15/2018 07:19:07 pm

Sam,

It is so great to see you do a research project on something that is not only brilliant but relatable to you. I can see why Xu Bing's work is of great interest to you. I learned a lot about the New English Calligraphy, but never got to research the backgrounds of who and what Xu Bing was. The pictures of the calligraphy on the pig is incredibly enticing and reminds me of your work. I can see your inspiration in your own brilliance of writing and sculpture through this project.

Edgar Fernandez

11/15/2018 08:00:58 pm

Sam,

Very interesting and engaging bio of Xu Bing. It is always interesting to learn how different life experiences can shift the direction of how and why an artist creates the art they create. I love how he took traditional Chinese calligraphy and fused it into English words inventing his own writing system. I can personally relate to Bing in that way that I am also creating my own writing system using my ancient and present language . I can see how this artist has an inspire you and your work as your developing your own unique voice through the inspiration.

Yezi Dai

11/16/2018 01:31:24 am

In effect, I know this artist when I stay in China. He is a really amazing artist that he creat the letters by English with the shape of Chinese. His work is beautiful with the traditional Chinese feeling. Chun xiao is one of his famous work. I read that pome when I was young. He created the pome in a totally different way. I can also read it with different feeling and deep thinking. I really like your research about him and I thought I can get more inspiration by his work.

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