Photo by Angie Stong
Written by Liandra Mullings
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, world-known contemporary artist Xu Bing was named SCAD deFINE Art’s 2015 honoree. He held a keynote speech at the Trustees Theater regarding his work as a whole, being exhibited at the SCAD Museum of Art and his goals as an artist.
The Lecture opened with a speech from SCAD’s Executive Director of Exhibitions and the curator of Bing’s exhibit, Laurie Ann Farrell. She described it as maintaining great “linear abstraction,” and went on to name Xu Bing as one of the most important people in the role of “history, culture and aesthetics.”
With his critically acclaimed animations, prints and installations — such as “Book from the Sky” — Bing has received numerous awards including the MacArthur Genius Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Farrell called SCAD President Paula Wallace and Bing to the stage where he accepted his deFINE Art honoree award.
Bing thanked President Wallace and SCAD, and his mother who was also in attendance.
“I remember maybe 10 years ago I had a speech here, and I remember actually using a translator and I can say my English is better than [it was] those 10 years ago,” said Bing.
Members of the audience laughed at Bing’s occasional jokes and listened to him describe the meaning behind his work.
The artist reminded the crowd of the Chinese New Year. He explained that because there is so much to discuss, he would deliver his lecture in his own language: Chinese. His assistant from his New York studio translated for the audience.
He talked of his process as an artist and pieces being presented at the SCAD MoA in great depth, specifically his installation “The Background Story” which shows his homage to traditional Chinese art work.
“I can try to repress the soul of the landscape within the museum,” said Bing.
Another one of Bing’s art installations held at the SCAD MoA is his “Tobacco Project.” It is a set of over 500,000 cigarettes arranged to form a large tiger fur rug. Made in Shanghai, China, Bing showcased the notion of “glory and prosperity” in the form of something that is known as a human being’s weakness.
“I’m interested in the relationship between human beings and tobacco. It very much resembles the relationships between human beings; you can’t be too close or too far,” said Bing.
Bing closed the lecture with an explanation of a series of other installation works he’d completed, such as “Book from the Ground,” “Phoenix Project” and “A Lost Village Utopia.”
“People are always looking for a utopia and, in the process, go further and further away from it,” said Bing.
