Xu Bing

As intern at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, I researched artworks and wrote about them for their social media. This article is an amalgamation of some of the pieces which I wrote to promote the exhibition “Fukuoka Prize 30th Anniversary, Highlighting Asian Artist” (1 July – 24 September, 2019). All images belong to the museum, please do not redistribute.

This piece was posted on FAAM’s FB feed on 4 August 2019.

An Analyzed Reflection of the World ─Handscroll Vol.1

Xu Bing is one of the leading artists in contemporary Chinese art. Xu Bing’s work combines and reshapes components of Chinese characters to create new, made-up, characters. The title of this work, 析世鑑 (An Analyzed Reflection of the World), refers to a mirror that reflects the world. What is reflected in the mirror is human beings who are controlled by the civilization that they have formed in.

The fake characters are carved and printed using the wood-block method, which Xu Bing majored in at university. Wood-block requires significant time and effort and is deeply rooted in Chinese culture; the artist acknowledges that this method reflects how he is also a human being controlled by the civilisation that he was formed in too.

This work, a scroll that’s actually 10m in length is filled completely with 4000 of the artist’s characteristic fake characters, which to the untrained eye appear realistic. Growing up in Sichuan province to a university professor and librarian, the artist was surrounded by literature from a young age. During the Cultural Revolution, which began in 1966, his family was sent to a labor farm in Northern China, and his life was thus greatly affected under government policies. Consequently Xu Bing’s art has been fairly critical of the government, and has always been at the forefront of the avant-garde art scene in China.

The innovative “fake” Chinese characters in his early work began to be developed in the late 1980s and the resulting work. “An Analyzed Reflection of the World” was presented in the first major group exhibitions of contemporary art in China, “China/Avant-Garde,” in Beijing. It’s possible that Xu Bing’s work can be perceived as a criticism of the government’s attempts to create a simplified character system by creating his own system.

The artists fascination with the characters involves dismantling and rearranging the characters into new forms. This work can be seen as an attempt to deconstruct Chinese civilisation, which invented its characters, and create a new culture more fitting to contemporary society. His project aroused debate and marked the full-fledged beginning of installation art in China; the legacy of which still retains a legendary status.

Xu Bing moved to New York in 1990 and his influence began to extend beyond Asia. The performative element of his calligraphy was important to this as it often allowed audiences to take part. His work “The New English Calligraphy”, which presented a fusion of English and Chinese characters, won international acclaim.

FAAM has a specially made piece relating to this, which is shown above the 7th floor elevator. It features Xu Bing’s made up characters and also the works Fukuoka Asian Art Museum embedded within the calligraphy. Xu Bing has become a guiding force to fellow contemporary artists in Asia – so be sure to come and see his pieces that are currently on display at FAAM.

About the Fukuoka Prize

In 1990, ten years before the inauguration of FAAM, Fukuoka city set up the now prestigious Fukuoka Prize. It is the first humanities prize in Asia and consists of three sections, the grand prize, the academic section and the art section. This popular prize, that has a wide variety of laureates and a consistently high quality of work, was established to promote the outstanding culture in Asia and to enhance mutual understanding and peace. It’s logo, a circle, depicts Asia as one united body and the whirling core represents the spiritual energy of the region. Previous grand prize winners included the Nobel Peace Prize economist Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh), who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and also Mo Yan (China), who was awared the Nobel Literature Prize in 2012. 2019’s Laureates are Grand Prize winner David Randolf (Philippines) a scholar of sociology, Academic Prize winner Leonard Blusse (Netherlands) a historian who studies Asian-European relations, and Arts and Culture Prize winner Sato Makoto (Japan) a Theater Director who became known in the 1960s underground theatre scene associated with “Black Tent.” To commemorate the 30th year of the prize, FAAM showcased a selection of 6 artists who have previously been awarded the Arts and Culture prize.