From to front and back covers, 2012 print on paper each. Book from the ground is a book written using only emoticons by chinese artist xu bing that illustrates the ability to create a universal language using graphic symbols, he said wednesday in. Xu bing news book from the ground shown at exhibition. Xu bingfollowing his classic work book from the sky, the chinese artist xu bing. From the metropolitan museum of art, xu bing, book from the sky ca.
While xu bings students were making agitprop art, including a 30ft statue of the goddess of democracy, his father was dying of lung cancer. Visuality and translation in contemporary chinese literary art. Because of the universality of its visual signification, it can be published anywhere without translation. The book about xu bings book from the ground book, 2014. Installation view at blanton museum of art, the university of texas at austin, 2016. Installation of books and scrolls printed from carved wood types of invented characters, ink on paper, dimensions variable. The creation of xu bings book from the ground documented and described in text, images, and photographs. Download citation visuality and translation in contemporary chinese literary art. The artist first compiled symbols drawn from the public sphere and wrote a book using only these signs. Experimental chinese literature translation, technology. The book about xu bings book from the ground mit press. Book from the ground is a novel written in a language of icons that i have been collecting and organizing over the last few years. Twenty years later, xu bing published an actual book. Spoken languages and written scripts are two separate things.
Book from the ground 2003present, also on view at the frost, is an interactive staging of two computers running chat software that lures visitors to simultaneously decode universal signs and symbols, a pictographic language that xu bing previously developed from preexisting symbols and used to write an entire novel. A page of book from the ground, which narrates a day in the life of an office worker xu bing book from the ground is not xu s first project to contemplate language and writing. Chinese artist writes book using only emoticons life. K11 art mall debuts hong kongs first book from the. Visuality and translation in contemporary chinese literary.
The following text is part of artist xi bings novel book from the ground. A prolific and versatile artist, xu bing has created a range of works that explore traditional and experimental bookmaking and printmaking best exemplified by his iconic installation book from the sky and language including his invention of square word calligraphy and the ongoing book from the ground, as well as animals and nature. For the shanghai version 2004, xu bing used an excerpt from the chinese translation of cochrans book. The bookbecomes a practice in symbolic thought through imagery, almost like calculas. Subvert culture with chinese characters by zhihui yu abstract although the use of chinese language in art work is prevalent in much contemporary art, the chinese language is worth more and more focus and attention at this moment. In his artists statement bing says, regardless of cultural background, one should be able understand the text as long. Now i have created book from the ground, a book that anyone can read. Xu bings approach to artmaking reflects his desire to explore the boundaries of language and the space between understanding and misunderstandinghis own and that of viewers.
This companion volume to book from the ground chronicles the entire project, mapping the history of xu bings novel creation from inspiration to. A book without words, recounting a day in the life of an office worker, told completely in the symbols, icons, and logos of modern life. The exhibition included such major works as xu bings book from the sky, ghosts pounding the wall, 1st class and massive new installation of background story series. Xu bings studio also made a character database software that corresponds to the language of the book. Xu bings a book from the sky and a book from the ground published on 01 jan 2015 by brill. When xu bing 1955 first exhibited his book from the sky in beijing in 1988, the chinese were, understandably, shocked. Tianshu is the title of a book produced by chinese artist xu bing in the style of fine editions from the song and ming dynasties, but filled entirely with meaningless glyphs designed to resemble traditional chinese characters. The artist i would like to choose for my final project is a chinese contemporary artist xu bing, one of chinas bestknown artist. Xu bings a book from the sky and a book from the ground. Always a pioneer, artist xu bing now takes the novel beyond the. Due to the universality of its visual language, it could be published anywhere without translation. Im quite certain that xu bings book from the ground will never be. Its fascinating, though, because symbols have traditionally been quite arbitrary, but in this case they generally are clear in their meaning.
Book from the ground is written in signs and symbols that xu bing has compiled since 2003, such that any reader, regardless of cultural background or level of education, can read it. The new installation here consists of seven books published in seven different countries and regions in the past seven years. Xu bing, the renowned chinese artist whose many laurels include a. Even so, this work challenges our very approach to language because of the unique nature of the text written on the paper. Translation and technology 4 visuality and translation in literary art. The critics began to write about an emergent xu bing phenomenon. And i want to focus on his square word calligraphy this time, which proclaimed the possibility of unexpected rewards for those making the effort to communicate across cultures. Xu bing translated by jesse robert coffino what do you call the language used in your book from the ground. Exploring xu bing and his square word calligraphy cctp. This article examines two works by contemporary chinese artist xu bing. Focusing on the relationship between text and image in each of these works, it explores the relation between verbality and visuality in multimodal literaryart. For the book fom the ground installation, xu bing recreated his. From this single grid, one can discern nearly 4,000 separate poems.
All journal articles featured in asia pacific translation and intercultural studies vol 1 issue 1. You can also use terminals equipped for instant translation between english or mandarin. Although the pictogramonly narrative in xu bings book from the ground can be read by anyone, there is much more to the story of xu bings wordless book than can be. Despite his attraction to calligraphy shufa, xu bings book has zero chinese characters inside it. Xu bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of book from the ground.
Asia pacific translation and intercultural studies. Although the pictogramonly narrative in xu bings book from the ground can be read by anyone, there is much more to the story of xu bings wordless book than can be gleaned from icons alone. Book from the ground is a pictography suited to all spoken languages. Focusing on the relationship between text and image in each of these works, it explores the relation between verbality and visuality in multimodal literary art. Xu bings first tobacco book 2000 included passages about the duke familys tobacco dealings, which appeared in sherman cochrans big business in china. Xu bing following his classic work book from the sky, the chinese artist xu bing. Catalog of books, installation, and workshops shattered jade, 19771982 five series of repetition, 19836 artist proof pages from book from. Regardless of cultural background, one should be able understand the text as long as one is thoroughly entangled in modern life. The book is written in a way that any reader, regardless of his or her cultural or educational background, can understand. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twentyfour hours in the life of mr. Twenty years ago i made book from the sky, a book of illegible chinese characters that no one could read. Xu bings book from the ground is composed entirely of symbols, emojis, emoticons, whatever you want to call them. Xu bing has been undertaking his book from the ground project since 2003.
The book from the ground exhibition at sga includes a tower of babel book display copies of from dot to dot are available for 48rmb, a shop selling iconinspired products, a mockup of xus studio, and an animation showing the bund dissolving into icons. In this fashion, xu bing selected passages from four significant faithbased texts one buddhist, one gnostic, one jewish, and one passage from marx, all in english translation, which he then transcribed as square word calligraphy, and then synthesized into one text. K11 and bankmabsociety join hands to present hong kongs first book from the ground concept store by xu bing, an art installation cum design store based on his groundbreaking novel book from the ground. Chinese artist writes book using only emoticons chinese. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Art as a form of thinking, a lecture by noted scholar john rajchman, columbia university, investigated the way various modes of thinking are given play in xu bings. But xu bings narrative, using an exclusively visual language, could be published anywhere, without translation or explication. Xu bings most popular book is book from the ground.
For the book fom the ground installation, xu bing recreated his studios working environment and brought some materials to the exhibition space, implying that this is a neverending project in progress. Bing has written the text in a language of icons that he has collected. Heres how xu bing describes the origins of the project on its associated web site. The book from the ground, by the contemporary artist xu bing. Xu bing was recently invited to select and describe his favorite found icons from the wideranging iconolinguistic project book from the ground 2003ongoing. Xu bing creates contemporary artworks using chinese calligraphy and other traditional chinese media placed within unexpected settings. Xu bing began to develop the pictographic resources for his book from the ground project in 2004 see the postscript to the book and webnote z. Books, prints, installations, workshops and lectures by xu bing are all available via booklyn. Booklyn is proud to present the artwork of xu bing. Experimental chinese literature is the first theoretical account of material poetics from the dual perspectives of translation and technology. Book from the ground is a book written using only emoticons by chinese artist xu bing that illustrates the ability to create a.
Xu bings tianshu book from the sky is a large installation featuring precisely laid out rows of books and hanging scrolls with written chinese texts. Four months after chinaavantgarde came the tiananmen square protests. Xu bings a book from the sky and a book from the ground this article. The book, which consists of four volumes totaling 604 pages, was printed in a. Xu bing s a book from the sky and a book from the ground. Words without meaning, meaning without words asian art and culture erickson, britta, xu, bing, arthur m. Xu bing following his classic work book from the sky, the chinese artist xu bing presents a new graphic novel one composed entirely of symbols and icons that are universally understood. While the book can be translated into words as you read ityou can tell the story to yourself, the pictographic nature of it allows the reader to experience the book without verbalizing anything. Always a pioneer, artist xu bing now takes the novel. Xu bing, the renowned chinese artist whose many laurels include a macarthur foundation genius award and an appointment as vice president of chinas central academy of fine arts, has long demonstrated a fascination with the written word his groundbreaking work, book from the sky, looked like chinese calligraphy, but. The accompanying explanatory book, the book about xu bings book from the ground, includes documentation of the wider project when it has been presented in the context of an exhibition, and includes its development as a software program that translates chinese and english text into pictograms and symbols. From point to point is how xu bing, despite his training in printmaking and calligraphy, didnt draw his own symbols unlike book from the.