Couplet: Learning from the Past, Moving Forward in Time
2009
Contemporary 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."
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
56 1/2 x 16 3/4 in. (143.5 x 42.5 cm)
Gift of the artist in honor of Mimi Gardner Gates
2010.7.1-.2
Provenance: The artist, Beijing
Photo: Elizabeth Mann