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ELLEN AVRIL: Good evening. Oh. I need to put the mic on.
I might just say it.
Going to say about the seats. Oh, yeah.
Good evening, everyone. We are filling up, but I see a few seats sort of in the middle area. So don't be shy about scooting into the middle. And I think we're going to close the doors and get started in just a minute, OK? Thank you for being here.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Good afternoon. My name is Ellen Avril. I'm the co-interim director, chief curator, and curator of Asian art of the Johnson Museum. Welcome to everyone here in the audience and to those of you who will watch this later on on the-- are we live?
OK. So the livestream is now working. So welcome, everyone who's on the livestream. And this talk will also be archived. So those of you who would like to watch it later, watch the website. And it'll come up probably in about a week or so.
The museum is pleased to participate in the 2018 CCA Biennial, which was curated by Professor Tim Murray, who would like to say a few words about the Biennial.
[APPLAUSE]
TIM MURRAY: Thanks, Ellen. So over the past year, I've had the pleasure of working with so many of you gathered here in preparation of the 2018 CCA Biennial. The CCA is the Cornell Council for the Arts, which has been in existence, believe it or not, since 1965 and throughout that long history has had an annual grant competition for artistic projects in fine arts, performance, design across the campus.
This is the third Biennial, and it's happening throughout the semester around the theme of duration-- passage, persistence, and survival. And it gathers to Cornell 18 Cornell and international artists, whose installations and performances will grace the campus throughout the fall.
This afternoon, we had a really nice art walk with many of the artists who are here, including our other featured artist, artist Carrie Mae Weems, who joins us from Syracuse and has--
[APPLAUSE]
Has two extremely important installations in pavilions at the center of the Arts Quad, which you'll enjoy in the next six weeks. Tomorrow, we will hold a full-day conference in Milstein Auditorium in Milstein Hall across the way that will feature presentations by many of the participating artists, as well as a plenary lecture at 3:00 PM by Carrie.
We're extremely grateful, the CCA, to the Office of the Provost for its support of CCA and the Biennial. And I'm really happy to have the occasion to thank personally Provost Mike Kotlikoff, who joins us this afternoon.
[APPLAUSE]
I also want to add that today's lecture celebrates the inaugural residency on campus of AD White Professor-at-Large, the acclaimed international artist Xu Bing. As Xu Bing's faculty host, I worked with him over the past few years to plan this visit and was delighted that we managed to find time in his busy schedule for him to arrange this trip in conjunction with the launch of this Biennial, which also features his work in the compelling installation, The Character of Characters, which you can enjoy upstairs.
Tomorrow, I'll spend some introductory time saying more about the theme of duration and any campus and international co-sponsors who have helped to make this campus-wide event possible.
For now, I want to express particular thanks to the Johnson Museum and its former director, Stephanie Wiles, and current co-acting director, Ellen Avril, for their gracious and generous accommodations they've made to their schedule and spaces to host three Biennial pieces, Xu Bing's five-channel animation, which you'll see as you come into the main museum entrance, on the second floor, the stunning painting by celebrated Taiwanese artist Charles Lin, which was first exhibited in documenta III in 1964, and thanks to the gracious loan of the painting by Cornell alumnus Shin-Yi Yang.
And outside the entrance to the annex, you'll enjoy the subtle sound piece by Cornell art professor Joanna Malinowska and her partner, CT Jasper. So it's fitting in the spirit of collaboration that Ellen Avril has agreed to welcome us by introducing our cherished colleague and friend, AD White Professor-at-Large, Xu Bing.
[APPLAUSE]
ELLEN AVRIL: Globally admired artist Xu Bing works from studios in Beijing, China and Brooklyn, New York. Born in Chongqing, Xu Bing was interested in calligraphy and books from an early age. During the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to the countryside for re-education, where he developed a strong work ethic. And his talent and calligraphy was employed in the making of propaganda.
He formally studied art in the 1980s, earning his MFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing before moving to New York in 1990, where he set up his Brooklyn studio. In 2007, he moved back to China to become vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he now serves as Professor and Director of the Academic Committee.
Xu Bing is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the US State Department's 2014 Medal of Arts, an honorary doctorate from Columbia University, the Wales International Visual Arts Prize, Artes Mundi, the Fukuoka Asian Arts and Culture Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as "the Genius Grant."
Xu Bing's work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Guggenheim Museums in New York, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Reina Sofia, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, among many other prestigious museums and galleries. A major retrospective of his work is currently on view at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.
Prior to being named an AD White Professor-at-Large in 2015, Xu Bing made several visits to Cornell over the last two decades to give talks about his work. In 2002, his installation, Living Word 2, was presented at the Johnson Museum. Now, as part of the CCA Biennial, Xu Bing's animation, The Character of Characters, is on view at the Johnson Museum until December 23.
My thanks go to Tim Murray for spearheading this exhibition and co-curating it with me. Here at the Johnson, works from the museum's collection of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting are shown alongside the animation, along with earlier works by Xu Bing. For his generous loan of one of Xu Bing's Square Word Calligraphies, we are grateful to Cornell alumnus David Raddock, class of 1963.
We are so pleased to have Xu Bing here with us today, and we look forward to future collaborations with him during his tenure as an AD White Professor. Please join me in welcoming Xu Bing.
[APPLAUSE]
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
XU BING: Yeah. Thank you, everybody. So my English not so good, so [INAUDIBLE] invited the [INAUDIBLE] to the translation.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I'm honored to give you the talk today, and I have more to share with you.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I'm very grateful for the invitation from Cornell as the AD White Professor-at-Large. I am particularly grateful for the university provost, Michael Kotlikoff, and also the director of AD White Professor-at-Large program, David Feldshuh.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: I also have to thank Professor Tim Murray. Because of him, I have a very special connection with Cornell.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: I also have to thank Ellen. And this is actually my second time to exhibit my work. And both exhibitions are extremely well-done.
XU BING: In the Johnson Museum.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Especially this time, I feel it could be described as "perfect."
XU BING: Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I have two photos here, and you can compare the quality of the presentation. And this one is from MASS--
XU BING: MASS MoCA--
INTERPRETER: MASS MoCA.
XU BING: It's good, but it's better than here, huh? Better here-- yeah.
Today, I want the times talk of three part.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I want to talk about three different parts in today's talk. And the first part is about this work, Character of Characters.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Then, I will talk about a few other works that are also related to Chinese characters, Chinese writing.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So if we still have some time, I also want to share with you a recent work that I've just finished. It's a movie called Dragon-- Dragonfly Eye. Yeah. Sorry.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: In fact, it's also related to writing.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the animation of The Character of Characters is about 17 minutes long. And it's presented in a scroll shape. It's very long in shape.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the reason that I designed the shape in this way is to sort of use the tradition, the Chinese painting tradition. There's a scroll shape. And also, there is a tradition in Chinese painting that emphasized the emptiness.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it's like what we see the world. When something moves, our eyes will follow.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this work actually originated from--
XU BING: [? Guenye ?] Shenzong--
INTERPRETER: [? Guenye ?] Shenzong. It's a collection--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: From Yahoo's founder, Jerry Yang. And it's done by the calligrapher Zhao Mengfu.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it's written by Zhao Mengfu, and it's for his master, his teacher.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So what I want to do in this animation actually has something to do with an article that I wrote.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And I chose to use the animation as a medium because I think it's approachable to a lot of different age groups.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So what I want to discuss in this work is the relationship between Chinese writing, Chinese character, and Chinese cultural character.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it has something to do with the working habits of the Chinese and the method of the Chinese--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So we can better understand why today's China is the way as it is.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So essentially, what I want to say is Chinese writing is something that really distinguishes itself from all other older civilizations.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the animation actually starts with this horizontal stroke. And this represents a Taoist idea. There is an old saying in Taoist tradition that two comes from one, three comes from two, and everything comes from three.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the reason why Chinese character is so unique is partly because the Chinese pronunciation is also unique.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So in Chinese language, we have mostly monosyllabic pronunciation, the words.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So in lots of other languages, there are inflections in the language. So we hear a lot of a cluster of different sounds that stick together.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So we can probably say that the Chinese writing is the only existing writing system that is still based on ideographic logic.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So actually, in the beginning, a lot of other world languages also used a pictograph as a symbol. But as we progress, a lot of them turned to a phonetic system, instead of using ideographic pictograms.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Although I'm saying that this is probably the only-- Chinese writing is the only existing writing system that is based on ideograph, this is not entirely accurate, because we have lots of other minor ethnic groups that use writing systems that are also based on ideographic logic, including Ersu and Dongba in China.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the difference in writing systems has also determined the different ways that we think and the different ways that we interpret words and writing.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So these are the sketches that are used for the animation.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this is the diagram that we drew during the preparation for the animation. And you can see the relationships here between symbol and thought and language.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the Chinese character is also related to the views about the nature in China.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the characters become a symbol from the nature. So they're actually extracted from the nature.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So they're saying about the person who invented Chinese character, Chinese writing, Cangjie. So the person-- the saying is that the person who invented writing also invented how to draw.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, in Chinese writing, when you write the character, "a boat," it looks like a real boat, like drawing a boat.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And here's another example. That is "rock" in Chinese character, but it also looks like real rock.
XU BING: Yeah, the mountain.
INTERPRETER: Yeah, the mountain.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So we can say that the information contained in Chinese character is very rich and probably multidimensional.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So on the top, you can see the character "cold," which is written in the modern form. But at the bottom, you can also see the character "cold" as written in the traditional or more ancient form.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I was talking about the information contained in Chinese character is so rich. It is so rich that we can probably say that each character is a story.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, if you look at the character "cold," on the outside, you can see this semicircle, the exterior. That represents a house.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And at the center, there is a person.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So at both sides, you see there is hay. And because it's cold, so the person is using hay to warm him or her up.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So at the very bottom, you can see the shape actually represent the cracks of ice.
XU BING: Yeah, about that. Yeah, like my name. Like my name, it's "Bing," right? That part is two marks, like this, right? Two marks like this-- and there's water.
Yeah. Anyway. So the characters are so different. They're so--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the way that those characters are written--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Also influenced how we read and what kind of information that we're getting from reading and writing.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So these diagrams are showing how a person is receiving a traditional education in China. And you can probably see that one has to sit in a very good manner. And this person has to practice a lot of copying to practice calligraphy.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: For example, there is a story about the master, Wang Xizhi, who dried up entire lake just to practice his writing.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And on the left, you can see the right gesture of holding a pen. And there should be an egg inside of your hand.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it's kind of like a ritual.
XU BING: When I was young, my--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
Painting a masterpiece.
INTERPRETER: OK. So this is all the writing that I did when I was young. And my father made me do it. And this is the copies that I've done.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So now I understand the reason my father wanted me to practice writing is also because he wants me to really receive the traditional Chinese education.
XU BING: Sorry. Let me-- oh, I can't let the--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
This is the animation, but it didn't work.
ELLEN AVRIL: You have to turn.
INTERPRETER: Turn.
XU BING: Turn? One. Next one.
I don't know who can know this.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So unfortunately, I can't play--
XU BING: Sorry--
INTERPRETER: The animation. So I have to move on to other images.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the complexity of Chinese writing and Chinese characters has not been really thoroughly studied in the past.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So especially in the past 100, 200 years, the Chinese has paid too much attention to the Western civilization.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, when we talk about Chinese calligraphy, on the surface, it looks like a very elegant practice. But the more I study, the more I find out how violent it could be inside.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, the different types of strokes that we have are actually sometimes representing bones and blood and things like that.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, when you write the stroke at the end, which looks like a dot, it should represent a rock falling from the cliff. It should have that kind of power and force.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And also, when we talk about the principles of Chinese calligraphy, we use a lot of ideas from the traditional military tactics.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So if you want to make your writing or your character look nice, it should also resemble the ways in which people line up troops in the battlefield.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And another part of this animation also talks about the working method of the Chinese people.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, in Chinese writing, when you start your second stroke, you have to pay attention to the first stroke. And when you start the third stroke, you have to pay attention to the first two strokes that you've just written. And especially the last stroke is probably the most important one.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So as for the working method of the Chinese, it says a lot about the way that the Chinese work. For example, we tend to improvise according to the certain circumstances that we have.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this also resembles to Deng Xiaoping's famous line about Chinese economic reform. So the original quote was, "You touch the stone and cross the river," which means that you have to really practice to know the knowledge. And so in Chinese culture, there's not so much about planning and design. It's all about how to improvise according to the situation.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it's really Deng Xiaoping's words that make China develop so fast.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this is also reflected in the details of our everyday life. For example, it could be seen in our driving.
[LAUGHTER]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: There is an American author who went to China and wrote a book, [INAUDIBLE].
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So he mentioned a very telling example, which is about the massive intersections of Chinese cities. No matter if you're on the bike, in the car, no matter how massive the intersection could be, people always find a way to go around it.
[LAUGHTER]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So if you watch the animation, you will also notice that this is part of how calligraphy works.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So people may ask-- people may have another question. Why are Chinese people, the people who use Chinese characters, also favor famous brands?
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Also, people in Japan, Hong Kong.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Because in Chinese tradition, we respect classic.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So through the process of writing, practicing Chinese writing over 1,000 years, we have developed a special notion, a particular notion about copy and copying.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So especially in traditional Chinese culture, the act of copying has a very important function.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, the Chinese painters always copy the paintings of older masters--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And then sign their own names.
[LAUGHTER]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the title would be the copy of someone's painting.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Another example is the Chinese classical poetry.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So one of the most important principles is to quote the famous lines that were written by, again, masters in the past.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So if you can use quotation very adequately, it proves that you are also very educated and cultured.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So it proves my point that in Chinese traditional culture, people respect classics.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So calligraphy was very important, and it was given one of the task subjects of a civil servant in the past. And if you wanted to have a position in government, you also need to be a good calligrapher. And this includes Chairman Mao.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this diagram shows the relationship between a traditional character and simplified character, a point we can discuss later.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
TIM MURRAY: 10 minutes.
XU BING: 10 minutes-- OK.
INTERPRETER: So now I can talk a little bit about a few other works.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: They're all related to Chinese writing and Chinese culture.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this is Book from the Sky. So the space is composed of characters, Chinese characters.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: However, the characters are not readable, even including myself.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I've carefully made up 4,000 fake characters. And I've printed them out and carefully bought them and made books. And usually, if we see those books, you would assume that they contain very important information. But it actually cannot be read.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this is the second work, Square Word Calligraphy.
XU BING: Where is my--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
Oh, here. Thank you.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
Should look like Chinese.
[LAUGHTER]
But actually, you can read it. Yeah, "A-R-T F-O-R T-H-E P-E-O-P-L-E." So you can read it.
And I showed this piece, yes, somewhere. I can use the English so we save time. If I have a problem, I call. Yeah. It's OK. We need to work together.
Now, I showed this piece. I'm changing a gallery to a classroom. It looked like a Chinese classroom, calligraphy classroom. But actually, when the people to writing, finally, they found, oh, this is not Chinese. I write in English.
[LAUGHTER]
So for this classroom, I'm editing a introduction book. So this book is a page of the book. It's actually the English book. So this is a piece that I started by a long time ago, about 15 years ago, at least-- 20 years ago, probably. It's 1993, when I was living in New York.
So I really wanted to do something connected with the English and the Chinese. So I tried to make an alphabet, changing to look like the Chinese stroke style. So this I tried is most--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this is the longest word that I've tried in English.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Could be about 32 letters long.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So there are actually rules-- for example, from top to bottom, from left to right. And if you master those rules, you can actually read.
XU BING: Yeah this is really easy, right? That's [CHINESE], from left to right. If this is also from left to right, but the right side is from top to bottom. "If you would"-- "W-O-U-L-D,"-- "hit the"-- "T-H-E"-- "mark"-- "M-A-R-K, Y-O-U"-- "you must"-- "M-U-S-T A-I-M"-- "aim."
So this calligraphy is really, really special. They really--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So this actually sort of disturbs the usual way that we think and we read--
XU BING: Because we have the knowledge about what is English, the spelling language like this. The knowledge tells us what is the Chinese. Chinese writing into the square, right? But all this knowledge, faced to my calligraphy, it doesn't work. You need to find that new--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So those rules don't work. So you need to find a new concept to read the writing here.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So a lot of my works that are about writing are to actually create obstacles for people. It's like you want to crash the computer. And when you restart it, it will recompute a lot of things a lot better.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
Book from the Ground-- so this book is kind of like a story, a novel. But they're written by the icon, by the emoji. The whole book is the talk of one person for 24 hours' life, but without any traditional words. We can try to read it. It's really easy.
The guy has to quickly-- we know this one-- quickly go to toilet.
[LAUGHTER]
Then he couldn't work. It doesn't work And he's thinking what problem my stomach.
Then he feels boring. He plays the cell phone. Oh, hey, that works, right?
[LAUGHTER]
And he's clean. He's even looking back. And this one is the flush-- clean. So this comes from the airplane toilet.
So that's a piece I started a long time ago. There's a show right now showing in China, the Ullen Center. The teams that won there joined the symposium-- gave a really good presentation. I show this piece as some ways, I'm changing the gallery to a studio, my studio of a part making Book from the Ground, that part, because by my idea is that today, like a new term of the pictograph period.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So using emoji is actually a gesture of saying that now we've entered a new ideographic age.
XU BING: This going to show the moment. We had software. You're typing English or typing Chinese. They're all changing to the icon language.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
We are right now working on the pop book-- yeah, pop book. So--
TIM MURRAY: "Pop-up."
XU BING: Yeah. Couldn't move, but there is an interesting--
So following is I want to show my new piece. This is Dragonfly Eyes. This is a movie. The movie is a fiction movie. The length is about 81 minutes long.
But this movie is very special, made without a camera man and without actor. So the whole images we had downloaded from the internet. We downloaded over--
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the actual footage we've downloaded from the internet is probably more than 11,000 hours long.
XU BING: So right now, I probably-- we don't have to show the whole movie. But we can show a trailer. It's about three minutes, the trailer. And I have a 10-minute documentary to talk about how we are working on this movie.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: The trailer-- launching trailer.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- This is Dragonfly. Dragonfly has 28,000 eyes, blinking 40,000 times per second, hour by hour, checking.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- Second by second, deleting.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- Searching-- identifying.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- Scenes, roles-- characters.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- This is a man. He will be seen 300 times each day. This is a woman. Her privacy is all used up. The man and the woman meet.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- He and she leave data.
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
- A lay Buddhist? A non-believer?
[EXPLOSIONS]
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
[END PLAYBACK]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So that was the trailer of the movie. And we're going to show you the short documentary about how the movie was made.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
[EXPLOSION]
- [SPEAKING CHINESE]
[END PLAYBACK]
[APPLAUSE]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the film was shown in MoMA for a week. And as you can probably tell, this work is very different from the work that I've done before. But I do believe that there is consistency, in terms of how I think and what kind of question that I'm asking between this and my previous work.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I like to invest my energy in things that are probably fictional.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So for example, the Book from the Sky, I spent a lot of effort making that work. But it's not a real book. It's not a book that is supposed to be read. You can't get information from it.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the different snippets in this film I think function like different characters. So the real meaning comes from how you play around, how you arrange the different snippets and make meaning out of the arrangement, like using different words from a dictionary.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: And also, I like working with materials that are always evolving and changing. I had this idea in--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: 2013. But I couldn't really do it because there was not enough material, surveillance footage, that were uploaded to the internet.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But in 2015, there was ready a lot of materials that you can find online.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: The Book of Earth, right?
XU BING: Book from the Ground.
INTERPRETER: The Book from the Ground is also another example, because I had this idea very early. But there was just not enough emojis for me to play with. But then the options exploded.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I think I could say that most of my artistic inspirations don't come from the artistic system or within the artistic system, but rather from the society, the social scene.
XU BING: I think we are stop the talk, then maybe have some Q&A or something.
TIM MURRAY: Yes.
XU BING: Thank you. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Professor Xu, it's very nice to meet you here. Actually, I'm studying in law school, but I'm from China. And I have actually have been to several of your exhibitions in China. So I'm really happy to meet you here.
But I have two questions, because I know about this movie. But I never had a chance to watch it. So my two things is do you think it would be possible for us to watch it here at Cornell someday maybe?
XU BING: This spring. We should ask your professor, Tim, Tim Murray.
AUDIENCE: OK.
XU BING: I don't know. Yeah. I don't know.
AUDIENCE: It would be great to watch it here. And my second question is I went to one of your exhibitions, and I think that one you called The Story from Behind?
XU BING: Oh, yeah, Background Story-- Background Story.
AUDIENCE: Yeah. I was also very amazed by that work. So can you explain a little bit about how you created that work and what is your concept and your idea network?
XU BING: That work actually is also like my way to making art. Actually, I cannot identify it.
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So in that piece, which is called Background Story, I use trash or garbage and also some natural materials to make a painting.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But we can also say that the painting itself does not exist because there's no traditional canvas. And there's no paint.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the painting is actually composed of a space, light, and shadow.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But there is also a lot of richness in the element of air and shadow, which make them very suitable for recreating traditional Chinese paintings.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So although I call it a painting, it has a kind of unique richness that an oil painting and other types of painting do not possess.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Because there is-- you need to create something that does not exist before in order to create a new way of making art.
XU BING: Yeah, please.
AUDIENCE: One of Cornell's-- probably the most famous Cornell alum was Hu Shih, who my understanding is was the person most influential in moving China away from calligraphy into characters that were more commonly represented and simplified. And I find it ironic that you're coming back to the calligraphy.
Any comment on that? Is that a correct interpretation of Hu Shih? And do you see that as a mistake or a lost opportunity in China?
INTERPRETER: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
So Xu Bing was saying that for Hu Shih's generation, they've seen the value of Western culture and civilization. And they've probably-- but they've probably underestimated the traditional value in China.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So actually, a lot of scholars at that time, in his generation, had proposed to entirely abandon Chinese writing, instead of using a phonetic writing system.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Including Hu Shih.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So Hu Shih has even said, if we don't abandon the traditional ways of writing Chinese language, China can hardly evolve and develop.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So even at the time in [? Jinggang, ?] where Communist Party was based, there has been magazines or journals that were actually written in phonetic system instead of Chinese characters.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the purpose was to make-- farmers and peasants can actually read language.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So the Communist Party at that time was actually very avant garde.
[LAUGHTER]
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But now we find, especially after we've entered the digital age, the Chinese character and Chinese writing have demonstrated particular very unique characteristics.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So as I mentioned earlier, there is lots of information contained in Chinese characters. So there is always more information for the computer or for the digital system to process.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Another example is the different input system. So there actually is a Chinese input system that is now probably--
XU BING: Quickly-- quickly for English.
INTERPRETER: Yeah. It's quicker than English input. And it's claimed that it's probably one third even faster than English.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So in the past, we would probably assume that the Chinese input system would be much slower than the phonetic input.
XU BING: All right. Oh, there.
AUDIENCE: I was wondering what your thoughts were when the Guggenheim in New York City decided to pull your case study in transference from their show or in China, whether you believe that they had good reason to or what your thoughts were.
INTERPRETER: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
So actually, I--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So Xu Bing said he wrote a statement--
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: Which replaced the actual exhibit.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So we have different-- now, we have competing notions and concepts. And especially in terms of the so-called "political correctness," we have to really rethink the notions and conceptions that we had before.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So in my statement, I mentioned that the pigs that are used were happy.
XU BING: Otherwise, it doesn't work.
[LAUGHTER]
[SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So I also mentioned that a cow feed on grass and tiger feed on meat, but human eat all kinds of things.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But now, we think that tigers should be blamed because it murders other creatures.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: But nowadays, with the more advanced technology, we may discover that even the plants may have so. So we don't really know what to do.
XU BING: [SPEAKING CHINESE]
INTERPRETER: So one of the most important tasks for contemporary art is really to explore the potential problems that we may have. We mean current or in the future.
XU BING: OK. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
ELLEN AVRIL: So we invite you all to join us for a little reception just outside this room. And if you have further questions for Xu Bing--
Chinese-born artist and A.D. White Professor-at-Large Xu Bing discussed his work, on view as part of the exhibition 'Xu Bing: The Character of Characters,' at the Cornell Council for the Arts Biennial Launch Conference held September 28-29, 2018. The event was co-sponsored by the Milstein Program for Technology & Humanities.
