Couplet: Learning from the Past, Moving Forward in Time

Date2009

Label TextContemporary artist Xu Bing, praised by Do Ho Suh as one of China’s most important artists, is internationally known for his installations that demonstrate how written words can be easily manipulated. Following the creation of his monumental Book from the Sky, for which he painstakingly carved some 4,000 illegible characters, Xu invented a new script in which characters are composed of alphabets. This couplet reads, "Learning from the Past; Moving Forward in Time. For the Seattle Art Museum."

Object number2010.7.1

ProvenanceThe artist, Beijing

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012. Seattle, Washington, Asian Art Museum, Calligraphic Abstraction, May 9, 2015 - Oct. 4, 2015. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, and Culture in Late Imperial China, Dec. 24, 2016 - May 15, 2022 [on view Sept. 23, 2020 - Mar. 7, 2021].

Credit LineGift of the artist in honor of Mimi Gardner Gates

Dimensions56 1/2 x 16 3/4 in. (143.5 x 42.5 cm)

MediumHanging scroll; ink on paper