Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections

Illustrations

vii Illustrations Figure I.1 A Book from the Sky (Tian shu 天书), Xu Bing, 1987–1991. Top: detail of pages from two of the set of four books. Bottom: Installation view. (Courtesy of the artist.) xvi Figure 1.1 Do We Have to Examine the Word Jing Written by Three Men and Two Women? Gu Wenda, ink on paper, 1985. (Courtesy of the artist, photo: Tsao Hsingyuan.) 12 Figure 1.2 Mao Zedong—Red Grids Number 1, Wang Guangyi, oil on canvas, 1986. (Courtesy of the artist.) 13 Figure 1.3 Big character posters (dazibao 大字报), photo from the Cultural Revolution, 1967. 14 Figure 1.4 Xu Bing’s diagram on naming the strokes. (Courtesy of the artist.) 26 Figure 4.1 Square Word Calligraphy, Xu Bing, mixed-media installation, 1994–1996. (Courtesy of the artist.) 99 Figure 4.2 Helsinki-Himalaya Exchange, Xu Bing, ink on paper, 1999–2000. (Courtesy of the artist.) 104 Figure 4.3 Reading Landscape: After Yuan Jian, Xu Bing, 2001. Wood, PVC, acrylic paint, and Chinese landscape painting, installation view. (Courtesy of the artist, photo: Tsao Hsingyuan.) 107 Figure 4.4 American Silkworm Series Part I and II, formerly known as Can Series, Xu Bing, installation with live silkworms, books, and objects, 1994–1995. (Courtesy of the artist.) 109 Figure 4.6 Guangdong Wild Zebra Herd, Xu Bing, installation with live donkeys, Guangzhou Biennale, 2002. (Courtesy of the artist.) 110 viii xu bing a nd contempor a ry chinese a rt Figure 4.6 Case Study for Transference #1, Xu Bing, performance at the Han Mo Art Center in Beijing, 1994. (Courtesy of the artist.) 112 Figure 5.1 Parrot, Xu Bing, mixed-media installation and performance of live parrots, 1994. (Courtesy of the artist.) 127 Figure 5.2 The Living Word, Xu Bing, installation of acrylic “bird” characters at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2001. (Courtesy of the artist; photo: Tsao Hsingyuan.) 129 Figure 5.3 Five Series of Repetition, Xu Bing, series of woodblock prints on paper, 1987. (Courtesy of the artist.) 131 Figure 5.4 Where Does the Dust Itself Collect? Xu Bing, installation with Chan quote and collected 9/11 dust from Ground Zero, 2004. (Courtesy of the artist.) 139 Figure 6.1 Shen Wai Shen, Xu Bing, installation of printed Post-it notes, Ginza Graphic Gallery, Japan, 2000. (Courtesy of the artist.) 148 Figure 6.2 Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering (Lantingxu 蘭亭序), attributed to Wang Xizhi, ink rubbing on paper, originally scripted in Eastern Jin period, Ming period copy, Dingwu version, Kyoto National Museum. (Photograph by Kazuko Kameda-Madar.) 154 Figure 6.3 Saiyuki, image from the manga by Minekura Kazuya. 159 Figure 6.4 Character for wu 悟, from a detail of a sketched project proposal for Shen Wai Shen, Xu Bing, 2000. (Courtesy of the artist.) 161 Figure 6.5 Wu Street, Xu Bing, mixed-media installation with found oil paintings and falsified magazine article, 1993–1994. (Courtesy of the artist) 163 Figure 7.1 Panda Zoo, Xu Bing, performance and mixed-media installation of bamboo, New Hampshire pigs in masks, and classical Chinese paintings, 1998. (Courtesy of the artist.) 178 Figure 7.2 Zhang Hongtu, the artist and sculpture of the back of the artist’s head. (Photograph by Jerome Silbergeld, 2006.) 180 Figure 7.3 Drawing-and-Quartering, Zhi Lin, from the series Five Capital Punishments in China, 2003, Princeton University Art Museum. (Courtesy of the artist.) 182 Illustrations ix Figure 7.4 Drawing-and-Quartering, Zhi Lin, detail. 183 Figure 7.5 Detail from Starvation, Zhi Lin, from the series Five Capital Punishments in China, 1999. (Collection of the artist.) 185 Figure 7.6 Devils on the Doorstep (director Jiang Wen, 2000). (Top) Ma Dasan (actor Jiang Wen). (Bottom) Yuan Ding as Chinese translator Dong Hanchen (actor Yuan Ding), left; Japanese soldier Hanaya Kosaburo (actor Kagawa Teruyuki), right. 187 Figure 7.7 Devils on the Doorstep. (Top) Chinese villagers (actor Xi Zi as village elder, second from left). (Bottom) Japanese Captain Sakatsuka Inokichi (actor Sawada Kenya). 189 Figure 7.8 Devils on the Doorstep. (Top) Hanaya Kosaburo. (Bottom) Ma Dasan and Yu’er (actress Jiang Hongbo). 191 Figure 7.9 Devils on the Doorstep. Chinese mule violates Japanese horse. 194 Figure 7.10 Devils on the Doorstep. The head of Ma Dasan. 195 Figure 7.11 Devils on the Doorstep. Ma Dasan brays to Heaven. 196 ...