Book from the Sky to Book from the Ground (2020)
Xu Bing Casebound, paper on board cover, sewn and capped with headbands. H257 x W182 x D22 mm, 216 pages. Accordion fold insert of An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy, 38 panels, first panel cover, last panel pasted down. Four-panel insert of Square Word Calligraphy — Red Line Tracing Book, first panel cover, last panel pasted down. Four-page insert on translucent paper of English translation of the original Chinese painting Himalayas Landscript (Sketchbook). The page count here includes the preliminaries and the translucent insert. Acquired from ACC Art Books, 21 January 2021.
Perhaps the artist’s best introduction to Book from the Sky (1986-2012), Square Word Calligraphy (1993~), Landscript Series (1999~), and Book from the Ground (2003~). The timeline appendix runs through 2019, including the exhibition “The Art of the People” held at the Centro del Carme Gallery in Valencia, Spain (see a documented visit here). The publisher’s production values are exceptional. The full-color printing on matte paper is as true to a first-hand view of the works as could be hoped. The inserts reproduce the larger, scarce Square Word Calligraphy works, which makes this volume a collectible item in its own right.
Further Reading
“Xu Bing in ‘Beijing’: Art in the Twenty-First Century“, Art21, 25 September 2020.
“Appreciating Xu Bing“, Books On Books, 31 December 2018.
“Farewell Our Globalism”, Xu Bing and the Guggenheim, Books On Books, 9 December 2017.
“Xu Bing“, Books On Books, 28 February 2016.
Wan Kong, “The Character of Characters: Xu Bing’s Exploration of Chinese and Their Language“, UnFramed/LACMA, 23 June 2015.
Locations of works
Book from the Sky
- British Museum (London, UK)
- Harvard Library (Cambridge, MA, USA)
- University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Yale University Gallery of Art (New Haven, CT, USA)
- Videos
Book from the Ground
- Xu Bing, Book from the Ground: From Point to Point (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013)
- Xu’s website covers the original and movable versions
- Mathieu Borysevicz Book about Xu Bing’s Book from the Ground (MIT Press, 2014)
An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy
- Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong, China)
- US libraries through WorldCat
- Yale University Gallery of Art (New Haven, CT, USA)
- Videos
Five Series of Repetition
- Xu’s website describes the origin of this series of prints.
- Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art, Ashmolean, Object 15202.
Background Story
- Xu’s website lists the installations and locations since 2004.
- Videos
Phoenix
- Xu’s website lists the installations and locations since 2008.
- Videos
The Character of Characters
- Xu’s website provides background on this 17-minute animated video.
- Xu Bing, The Character of Characters : An Animation by Xu Bing (San Francisco : Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2012)
Books On Books 