¾«¶«AV

Library Information and Colophon

Biography

Xu Bing

(1955- )
Chinese

Xu Bing is a conceptual artist whose work often revolves around language, writing, and books. The book Square Word Calligraphy by Xu Bing in ¾«¶«AV’s Special Collections consists of an instructional and copybook to teach the audience a kind of writing created by Xu Bing. The calligraphy looks like Chinese characters but is actually English.

Xu Bing was born in Chongqing, (Sichuan Province) in 1955 and grew up in Beijing surrounded by books at Beijing University where his parents worked.1 He obtained a BA in printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing in 1981 where he then stayed on as an instructor, earning his MFA in 1987. He moved to the United States in 1990 upon the invitation of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Xu Bing currently serves as the Vice President of CAFA and lives in New York.2

When the piece is installed in a gallery, Xu Bing transforms the space to appear like a traditional calligraphy classroom in China with desks, ink stones, brushes and practice books. Xu Bing came up with the idea for this work when “…he observed the attitude of awe and respect with which non-Asians regard Chinese calligraphy.”3 When the “students” start to practice the calligraphy they realize that they are writing English nursery rhymes and it demystifies calligraphy. The rhymes he includes are 'Little Bo Peep', 'Three Blind Mice', and 'Rain Rain Go Away'. These are a way to teach language and moral code such as 'Little Bo Peep':

“Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and
can not tell where to find them.
Leave them alone and they will come home and
bring their tails behind them.”4

Footnotes

1 Jerome Silbergeld. “Introduction.” Persistence-Transformation: Text as Image in the Art of Xu Bing. Jerome Silbergeld, Dora C.Y. Ching, Eds. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2006.) 19.

2 “Bio.” Xu Bing Official Website. 29 May 2010.

3 “Square Word Calligraphy” Xu Bing Official Website. 29 May 2010.

4 Bing, Xu. Square Word Calligraphy (Beijing, Beijing Studio: 1994)

References and Links

Chiu, Melissa and Zheng Shengtian. Art and China’s Revolution. New York: Asia Society; New Haven: In association with Yale University, 2008.

Erickson, Britta. The Art of Xu Bing: Words Without Meaning, Meaning Without Words. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; Seattle: In Association with the University of Washington Press, 2001.

Silbergeld, Jerome. Persistence-Transformation: Text as Image in the Art of Xu Bing. Jerome Silbergeld, Dora C.Y. Ching, Eds. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2006.

Smith, Karen. Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China. Zurich: Scalo; New York: Distributed in North America by Prestel, 2006.

“Xu Bing.” Art and Culture. 4 December 2008.

Xu Bing Official Website. 4 December 2008.

Wingfield, Jeremy. The Xu Bing Phenomenon. ¾«¶«AV Thesis, 2001.

Word Play. 4 December 2008.

Other Books in Special Collections by this Author