Concept
The retrospective exhibition of Xu Bing explores the artist’s work through various forms of communication disruption—ranging from illegibility in written symbols and the clash of cultural codes to the boundaries of human interaction with the living world, material objects, digital technologies, and the cosmos.
The exhibition seeks to demonstrate how the attempt to overcome a communication barrier simultaneously creates new opportunities for understanding and new forms of misunderstanding.
Exhibition Title Justification
The Duke of Zhuang asks the Scorpion. The Duke of Zhuang asks: «Are there limits in the four directions above and below?» The Scorpion replies: «Outside the Ultimate, there is nothing else but the Ultimate.»
(Zhuangzi · Inner Chapters · Free and Easy Wandering)
Translation: The Tang Emperor Yin was asking his advisor, Ji, about this very thing. He asked, «Is there a limit to the universe?» — «Beyond the boundless, there is yet more boundlessness.» (Zhuangzi, Chapter I («The Way of Freedom»))
Venue Selection
MMOMA, Gogolevsky, 10c1: the main museum exhibition space
«Major retrospectives, large-scale thematic exhibitions, and international projects take place here.»
Works by Xu Bing that require close examination will be featured.
ГЭС-2: the Phoenix installation
There is ample space for display—the former power station combines with an industrial installation to create a dialogue with infrastructure.
Visualization: Art for the People (1999) on the facade of MMOMA, Gogolevsky, 10s1. The Grok neural network was used to generate this image. Source of the original image: MMOMA
Exhibition Plan
Explication
Act 1, Halls 1–5
Staircase — Monkeys Grasp the Moon
Room 5. Prologue, curatorial text, biography of Xu Bing
Room 4. Early Graphics: Shattered Jade, Animated Village on Water
Room 3. Book from the Heavens
Room 2. A, B, C…
Room 1. Braille Literacy, Cultural Negotiations
Act 2, Halls 6–9
Room 6. Calligraphy of Square Words Class
Room 7. The Living Word
Room 8. Chronology of Creativity (at the end of the viewing)
Room 9. Book from the Earth
Room 10. Video Documentation of Projects: Transfer Case Study and The «American Silk Spinner» Series
Hall 11. Background — commission for a Moscow exhibition
Hall 12. Tobacco Project
Hall 13. Video Installation Satellite Lake: Cosmic Reflections
Courtyard — Tianchu Rocket by Xu Bin
I thank the exhibition department of MMOMA for providing the museum’s floor plans.
Link to Visual Research
