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Back Home

Phoenix

PHOTO|VIDEO

sample.jpg

Male Feng, MASS MoCA, 2012

2008-2016

The magnificent installation of Xu Bing's Phoenix, a pair of two Chinese phoenixes (feng and huang), is in fact made from thousands of abandoned materials and workers' daily necessities that Xu Bing collected from construction sites in Beijing. While Feng Huang are traditionally associated with rebirth after suffering and rising from ash, Xu Bing's Phoenix can be seen to signify the cycle of the painstaking development and renewal that is inherent in the process of urbanization. Furthermore, Phoenix pays humble respect to the efforts of ordinary workers and draws attention to urban topics such as environmental issues and labor conditions.

When Phoenix traveled to Shanghai (2010), MASS MoCA (2012), New York (2014), and the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), audience from all over the world was not only impressed by the splendor of the two birds but also moved by the countless scars and hopes carried by them.


ANIMALS INSTALLATION

Series

  • Bronze  Phoenix

    2016
  • Phoenix  2015

    2015
  • Phoenix  Project

    2008-2010

Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Title of the scroll: Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Work in progess

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

Details of Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll

woodblock

woodblock

woodblock

Xu Bing working on Mustard Seed Garden Landscape Scroll, Beijing, 2010

Work in progress

Mustard Seed Garden Manual

PHOTO|VIDEO

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


PRINTMAKING CHARACTER

Background Story 6

Background Story 6,New York, 2010

Background Story 6,New York, 2010

PHOTO|VIDEO

2010

Materials:Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel

Location:Dead or Alive, Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA

In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story.


INSTALLATION

Background Story 5

Background Story 5,Beijing,2010

Background Story 5,Beijing,2010

PHOTO|VIDEO

2010

Materials: Light box and natural debris, 120 x 780cm

Location: Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

Original painting: 

In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story.


INSTALLATION

Phoenix Project

Phoenix, Today Art Museum, Beijing, 2010

Phoenix, Today Art Museum, Beijing, 2010

Phoenix, Shanghai, 2010

Phoenix, MASS MoCA Museum, 2012

Phoenix, MASS MoCA Museum, 2012

The body of Female Huang, MASS MoCA, 2012

The hand of Male Feng, MASS MoCA, 2012

Phoenix, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, 2014

Documentary of Phoenix

PHOTO|VIDEO

Materials: construction debris, light emitting diodes

Dimension: 27 and 28 meters in length, 8 meters in width

20180106035142_7251.jpg


20180106035154_3211.jpg

sample.jpg

Today Art Museum, Beijing, China,2010

20180406225424_1257.jpg

Baogang Stage, Expo 2010 Shanghai, China,2010

sample.jpg

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA,2012

forweb.jpg

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, New York, USA,2014

ANIMALS INSTALLATION