Book from the Sky
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This set of four books forms part of an eponymous installation first displayed in Beijing in 1988. The books contain four thousand invented characters that cannot be decoded, raising fundamental questions about the Chinese identity and its relationship to the written word. The artist believes that writing is the “essence of culture.” His subversion of it speaks to our need to communicate and the dangers of distorting or eliminating intended meaning.
Born in Sichuan Province, Xu Bing studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Book from the Sky and other projects have brought him considerable international renown. He moved to the United States in 1990 but returned to China in 2008 to teach at his alma mater.
Born in Sichuan Province, Xu Bing studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Book from the Sky and other projects have brought him considerable international renown. He moved to the United States in 1990 but returned to China in 2008 to teach at his alma mater.
Artwork Details
- Title: Book from the Sky
- Artist: Xu Bing (born 1955)
- Date: ca. 1987–1991
- Culture: China
- Medium: Installation of hand-printed books and ceiling and wall scrolls printed from wood letterpress type; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Each book, open: 18 1/8 × 20 in. (46 × 51 cm); three ceiling scrolls, each: 38 in. × approx. 114 ft. 9 7/8 in. (96.5 × 3500 cm); each wall scroll: 9 ft. 2 1/4 in. × 39 3/8 in. (280 × 100 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by the artist
- Rights and Reproduction: © Xu Bing
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art