Upon entering the gallery, the first work to be encountered is the ink-drawing animation The Character of Characters (2012), a sketch of contemporary China referencing a 13th century Yuan Dynasty ink painting. Art educator-cum-historian, Xu expounds on the maneuverability of the pictographic nature of Chinese characters. One key message is that under the regime of Chairman Mao Zedong, Chinese characters were simplified as part of a state strategy to propagate message among illiterate peasants. Also worth noting is an end shot of traffic jam reflecting upon the Chinese love of cars and rampant consumerism.
Amongst the works from Xu’s Tobacco Project, Redbook (2000), a representation of the Communist ideology "bible" from the days of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), is a box of "Zhonghua" brand cigarettes printed with quotes by Chairman Mao. The work is satirical of the era in that officials were rewarded with tobacco vouchers in exchange for their devotion to the leader, clearly alluding to their preference of cigarettes over Mao’s ideology.
In conversation with this piece is Calendar Book (2000), where Xu pays homage to his late father who died of lung cancer. By laying out his father’s medical records, Xu is suggesting that the hazard of smoking to health is extensive. The implication is particularly poignant in China, where smoking is widespread.
Another key piece is Silkworm Book (2014), which features the transformation of a book as live silkworms spin a protective silk cocoon around it. Apart from alluding to China’s rich and long history of silk production, the work can also be viewed as challenging written histories and emblematic of the lies and deceptions that weave around history.
Background Story (2014), modeled on a 19th century landscape painting, is placed at the rear of the gallery. Xu’s new landscape looks idyllic from one side yet the reverse side reveals a darker kind of beauty, with dry leaves, discarded plastic bags and debris casting shadows onto the light box. Whilst inventively making the ordinary and discarded heroic, the work ponders on the global need to recycle.
Viewers might also be thrilled to find themselves before Book from the Ground (2003 – 2014), one of Xu’s best-known projects which conceives a simple and universal language for mankind. The on-site piece reconstructs Xu’s New York studio where loads of everyday signs and materials come together.
Given nations’ common challenges to do with modernity and globalization, Xu’s immersive walk through Chinese history is as relevant to China as it is to the wider world.
Exhibition: It Begins with Metamorphosis: Xu Bing
Venue: Chantal Miller Gallery, Asia Society Hong Kong Center
2014.05.08 - 2014.08.31
