Xu Bing: Keep Eyes Not Restricted By Existing Concepts

This month, CH â teau Mouton Rothschild announced the artist candidate for his 2018 Vintage label, contemporary Chinese artist Xu Bing. Mutong winery is one of the most famous wineries in Bordeaux. In addition to the well-known wine, Mutong winery has invited a different artist every year since 1946 to take an original work as the art wine label of a specific year. There are many of the most famous artists in the world in each era, including sphincter Dali, Chagall, Picasso and Andy Warhol.

Why did Xu Bing choose to explain Mutong winery to the world? Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, vice president of the group's board of directors, who is responsible for the annual selection of Mutong artists, revealed in an interview with 21st century economic reporter that the relationship between Mutong winery and Xu Bing dates back to a lunch party in 2013. "When I met Xu Bing, I was immediately attracted by the symbols he invented and the poetic power in them. I said to myself that the label is also a symbol, and every piece of work can be traced back to a specific year: the 1973 vintage is called 'Picasso Paulownia' and the 2018 vintage is called 'Xu bingmu Tong'

Looking at the wine label designed by Xu Bing, the first impression is that there are two Chinese square brush characters. After careful analysis, they are actually words composed of two piles of letters. The first word is m, O, u, t at the top, O and N at the bottom, which spell out Mouton; the second word is "unlock" in the same way, and the spelling is Rothschild - the name of the winery. When asked about the source of inspiration, Xu Bing told reporters: "in the face of such calligraphy, the old knowledge concepts can not work. Just as our experience of judging the world becomes invalid, we should look for new perspectives and new fulcrums. "

Xu Bing, a contemporary Chinese artist. Information map

Xu Bing, who was born in 1955, was in the period of Chinese simplified character movement. A number of new words were published, old characters were abolished, and then the new words were changed and abolished, and then the old characters were used again. These experimental measures buried a special concept in his childhood: words can be "played".

In 1972, in the last small upsurge of going to the countryside, Xu Bing, who graduated from high school, chose to join the queue in the poorest place in Beijing. As an educated youth, he was assigned to the grain collecting ditch, a poor and simple village in the northern mountainous area. The village is secluded and secluded with remains of ancient customs. On the cupboard of the village secretary's house, Xu Bing occasionally and for the first time saw "ten thousand taels of gold" written in one word. In 1977, he was admitted to the printmaking department of the Central Academy of fine arts, and stayed to teach after graduation. After obtaining a master's degree from the Central Academy of fine arts, Xu Bing spent nearly four years devoted to an unprecedented artistic creation - a book that no one can read. He studied many ancient books and carefully studied the design, engraving, printing, binding and even paper selection of thread bound books. However, he forged more than 4000 words in the book. From font to glyph to word meaning, every detail is very similar to the text in the book, but it does not have the essential function of conveying information. It is in awe and banter that there is an artistic tension of contradiction and dislocation. In Xu Bing's words, "one person spent four years doing something he didn't say anything." Later, it was named "analysis of the world - the book of heaven", which was continuously exhibited all over the world, and was also praised by the art circles.

After finishing the book of heaven in 1990, Xu Bing began his nearly 20-year career in the United States. As a foreigner, facing the language and communication problems in life, the "Aphasia" in the cultural transition between China and the West has inspired him to create "English square characters". Xu Bing deconstructs and reorganizes English words in the way of Chinese calligraphy and rearranges them in the form of square characters, creating a new English writing system integrating Eastern and Western cultures. After that, English square characters were displayed in 40 or 50 Places in the world, and they were well received everywhere. Since 2003, Xu Bing began to create "earth book" - a book full of symbols, which can be read by almost everyone who lives in modern times.

Although it seems to be changeable, it is not difficult to see that no matter what period Xu Bing created the heteromorphic characters, it seems that there is a clue: the common characters can be used to convey feelings, but Xu Bing's words work through misleading and confusing. In the concept inversion, the inherent thinking mode and knowledge concept are disturbed, and the inertia of thinking is challenged. In my true words, Xu Bing concluded: "in the process of looking for new basis and channels, more space has been opened up for thinking, alerted to words, and found the origin of cognition. That's what my words do. " A few days ago, Xu Bing received an exclusive interview with the 21st century economic reporter, talking about his experience in the creation of irregular characters and the concept behind the wine label design of Mutong winery.

The 21st century: because language and writing appear frequently in our life, the strength and potential contained in it are often overlooked. From Tianshu, English Square calligraphy to Dishu, how do you express your different understanding of characters?

Xu Bing: I often use the most unimportant materials in my creation, but the use of these materials is particularly effective. Words are everywhere in life, so we think it's OK. The characters in the book of heaven are called characters. In fact, we can't say that they are words because they don't have the function of words. The earth books don't look like words, but they are real words because they have the function of words. But English square characters are indeed words. They are integrated into two different writing systems, and they are pressed together to become a kind of readable but inconsistent character. However, neither the writer nor the reader can define whether they are facing English or Chinese. The touch of words is exactly the touch of the most essential part of human thinking. We can also understand how this nation views the world, or how they think about things.

"21st century": your works make the past experience and concepts of readers invalid, and you need to read and interpret them word by word like a child who has just learned Chinese characters. Do you think that the function of art is to let the public reflect and return to the origin of all things?

Xu Bing: my writing works really transcend the local culture and education level. It seems that the higher the intellectual class, the less easy it is to adapt or enter, because the concept of knowledge of this kind of people is too strong. But in the face of these abnormal words, children are particularly easy to adapt to, or read quickly. Without the eyes restricted by knowledge or existing concepts, it is easier to see the true side of things or the other side of things.

21st century: how do you understand the relationship among red wine, art and label?

Xu Bing: I'm not one of those people who are obsessed with wine, but I can experience the richness of red wine. To some extent, this is similar to people's taste of excellent works of art, because excellent works of art must carry the cultural DNA from the artist and the DNA of individual personality. This special taste can only be tasted from the works of this artist. So is the culture of wine. And a good wine label must be the result of the perfect combination of wine and art in this special year or artist's special style - this is the charm of different fields to reach the highest level.

21st century: both design and drinking can be used to communicate and share personal ideas and feelings. In 2020, influenced by social isolation, what artistic ideas do you want to convey through wine labels?

Xu Bing: "English words" has become a relatively mature system. How to combine this system with the particularity of mature Mutong winery's 2018 vintage, and explore and adjust each other is a very interesting exploration process. In 2020, as you said, humans are placed in a mode of isolation, with a very poor sense. Therefore, wine and art have the function of reposing mood and venting emotion for human beings this year. One of the characteristics of Chinese culture is that they know how to cooperate with nature. Wine has a lot of metaphorical relationship with artists and poets. Human beings get wine from nature, and artists use wine to produce many imaginative creative inspiration.