Abstract
In his inaugural lecture at Heidelberg University, Xu reviews his creative arc and addresses how Chinese traditions and socialist paradigms affect his artistic ideas. He begins by comparing Chinese traditional wisdom with Mao’s political rhetoric to argue that cultural DNA persists in our daily life. A great part of his art education consists of repetitive training and learning by memory. He discusses the different concepts of nature in China and Europe and how he applies them in his installations. Chinese landscapists depict nature through a modular system and mental landscape, while European landscapists draw from a mechanism comparable to a camera obscura. Xu also addresses his recent works, including ephemeral works that evolve with time and his innovative Square Word Calligraphy and Book from the Ground that draw from contemporary scripts and symbols. This address was delivered as a Heidelberg Distinguished Visiting Professor supported by the Heinz Götze Foundation.
This is the translation of Xu Bing’s lecture on July 10, 2015, in Heidelberg. The original lecture in Chinese is transcribed by Sun Xin, translated by Yu-Chieh Li, and slightly edited by Xu Bing, Yu-Chieh Li, and Sarah E. Fraser.
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Notes
- 1.
“The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountain 愚公移山” was a fable recorded in Liezi 列子, a Daoist canon of the fifth century B.C.E. written by Lie Yukou 列御寇. Mao Zedong reinterpreted the story to illustrate the mighty collective effort.
- 2.
Mustard Seed Garden Manual 芥子園畫譜 was authored by Wang Gai, Wang Qi, and Wang Gao. A painting manual first published in the late eighteenth century, it includes instructions on how to paint figures, flowers, houses, trees, etc.
- 3.
Lothar Ledderose, Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001).
- 4.
The four-character phrase 不肖子孫 was originally used to describe those people whose conduct does not resemble that of their parents or ancestors or those who are incapable of keeping or running their family enterprise.
- 5.
In Xu Bing’s opinion, “realism” in European classical painting relies on the observance of light and shadow, which is comparable to viewing a scene through a camera obscura.
- 6.
Huineng was the sixth patriarch of the Southern Chan School of Buddhism in China. The doctrine of the Southern School emphasized sudden enlightenment, while the Northern School believed in gradual enlightenment. The verse by Huineng cited by Xu Bing points to the immediate and direct attainment of enlightenment.
- 7.
Moon on the Spring River 春江花月夜 is a poem by Zhang Ruixu (660–720) from the Tang Dynasty that describes the scenery of a spring night.
- 8.
“Book from the Ground Software,” http://xubing.com/en/work/details/190?year=2006&type=year#190, accessed April 15, 2019.
Acknowledgments
This project received support from the Heinz-Götze Foundation, the Institute for East Asian Art History, the Confucius Institute at Heidelberg University, the Institute for European Art History, the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, and the Student Council of the Institute for East Asian Art History, Heidelberg University.
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XU, B., Li, YC. (2020). Reactivating Tradition. In: Fraser, S., Li, YC. (eds) Xu Bing. Chinese Contemporary Art Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3064-7_1
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