Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll
2010
Materials: Woodblock print mounted as a handscroll, ink on paper
"I created this work upon an invitation from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. By cutting, reorganizing, and printing motifs from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting (1679), I created a handscroll version of the classic manual. I believe that a core characteristic of Chinese painting is its schematized nature, which is reflected in classic literature, theatrical expression, and various methods of social production. The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting is a dictionary of signs for representing the myriad things of the world. Through The Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll, I attempt to investigate and reveal the relation between the Chinese way of thinking and the semiotic and schematized nature of Chinese culture."
-- Xu Bing, 2010
Background Story 6
2010
Materials:Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel
Location:Dead or Alive, Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA
Background Story 5
2010
Materials: Light box and natural debris
Location: Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Phoenix Project
2008 - 2010
Materials: construction debris, light emitting diodes
Dimension: 27 and 28 meters in length, 8 meters in width
Location: Today Art Museum, Beijing