![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/ff5d10bc92b34eebbc180879b77c27fcj/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/9136e03fec0c5a16504b2f222b4f30e7j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/f06832b1c8517576d47c841d4e7b7fa2j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/8d837eeb12ef79f2d8b00672f9ddee20j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/dbbfb5f731dbe4a28a54c38c4481969fj/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/850ec175d3c67dd351f7567c8ea88324j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/ed1af904872ace326eb0b7133ba6ca33j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/5537807de4c9cd9d2bb1b90a5b669a7ej/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/7b9ab9cd5352fd5784ce0f16e8699ee5j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/80dceabc49969b73b8de221518c29522j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/888a46d58cdaf418914749e6c37ef1cdj/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/41a74809d89a5d2e85b3be9d3a012ac3j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/6bd676d548e23287bf441dfaa3beea38j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/a55c5dd6eacc2af1b8c26d442f7a8115j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/0ca550f8287ade75396f08babb000db1j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/39baf2b58f354e75a4b3607aaf3bf288j/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
![Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. (With:) Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book, New York, (Xu Bing), [2001].](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/hsrarebooks/images/view/82660c95bf45c1c3f87a48a8eba85a6aj/hsrarebooks-xu-bing-an-introduction-to-square-word-calligraphy.-with-square-word-calligraphy-red-line-tracing-book-new-york-xu-bing-2001-..jpg)
Xu Bing
One of only 99 copies: exquisite limited edition of Xu Bing's art book featuring walnut board covers and the artist's signature and stamp.
Further images
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 1
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 2
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 3
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 4
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 5
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 6
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 7
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 8
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 9
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 10
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 11
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 12
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 13
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 14
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 15
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 16
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 17
)
Folio, (393 x 233 mm). Autograph title-page with the artist’s seal; 17 pp. of woodblock-printed text in 9 openings, accordion-style, and 13 pp. of original rubbings in 7 openings. Bound between walnut boards. Includes a separate wrapper-bound volume with 16 sheets of red outline characters and squared paper. Housed in a walnut box with four horn clasps (ca. 42 x 26 cm). Light scratches to the walnut case. The two volumes are perfectly preserved.
With his "Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy", Xu Bing devised a method of writing English words in rectangular arrangements that resemble Chinese characters. By applying a code of calligraphic script elements mapped onto the 26 Roman letters, together with relatively simple rules for composing the square words, it is possible to write English using Chinese calligraphic principles. Having practiced tracing these invented characters in the "Square Word Calligraphy Red Line Tracing Book", readers can enjoy the semantics as well as the aethetics of the "Introduction".
The conceptual artist Xu Bing (b. 1955) often works with language, writing, and books. With this work he aimed to deconstruct the attitude of awe with which non-Asian audiences regard Chinese calligraphy, only to discover that they are reading and writing English nursery rhymes, such as 'Little Bo Peep' and 'Rain Rain Go Away'.
In this limited edition, as opposed the first 1994 version, the chief examples of calligraphy are produced as original rubbings. Xu Bing had the Square Word models in the second part of the accordion-bound volume manually carved into stone; subsequently, rubbings were made from the stones in the traditional manner. These rubbings were then cut into sheets, lined and pasted onto the pages of the accordion-bound volume.
A masterful example of the work of one of the most famous contemporary Chinese artists; an extremely rare copy that bears witness to the artistic crossroads between Chinese calligraphy and English language, deconstructing and reshaping both.
Provenance: French private collection.
B. Erickson, The Art of Xu Bing: Words Without Meaning, Meaning Without Words (Washington, DC, Sackler Gallery, 2001). J. Silbergeld, D. C. J. Ching (eds.), Persistence-Transformation: Text as Image in the Art of Xu Bing (Princeton UP, 2006).
Join our mailing list
* denotes required fields
We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.