Ebook: ’Passages in the Making of a Book’ - a study of Xu Bing’s iconic work

Even with the wealth of art coming out of China this century, historians are determined not to forget the cultural output of the 20th. In this vein the digital book publisher Mapp Editions has launched 'Passages in the Making of a Book', a chronicle of one of China's most important contemporary art installations: 'Tian shu (Book from the Sky)' by the artist Xu Bing.
Xu Bing's original artwork was a sensation when it was unveiled in 1988. Having painstakingly designed 4,000 characters that resembled Chinese script but were in fact devoid of any meaning, the artist hand-printed reams of unintelligible text, which hung from the walls and rafters of the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. The clever wordplay drew attention to China's troubled relationship with the written word and the subversion of vital texts by the authorities.
The newly launched ebook seeks to celebrate Xu Bing's feat and discuss its continued relevance. Images of the epic work and the original hand-carved wood printing plates are interspersed with essays by a handful of art scholars, who offer their revelations, plus observations from the artist himself. In Xu Bing's own commentary he writes of spending 'four years of my life making something that says nothing' and describes his artistic process of printing a Song-style book using moveable type.
Though rare-book publisher Bernard Quaritch printed a version of 'Passages in the Making of a Book' in 2009, Mapp's new digital version is the most comprehensive text to date, with searchable text, a character dictionary and zoom functions on the intricate images.
A printed version was published in 2009 by rare-book publisher Bernard Quaritch
But the digital version has supplemental tables of Chinese characters and their corresponding Roman sounds
Plates from the original artwork
The digital contents pages
Xu Bing assembling the rubbings taken from a section of the Great Wall of China, 1991
Mapp's new digital version is the most comprehensive text to date, with searchable text, a character dictionary and zoom functions on the intricate images
A spread from Bernard Quaritch's printed version detailing some of the original content from Xu Bing's 'Tian shu (Book from the Sky)'
Xu Bing's installation in three parts is seen clearly in this 1991 installation view of 'Tian Shu' at the Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Xu Bing's notes from 1987 at left, and images from the installations in China (1988) and Canada (1998)
Original bound copies of the 'unreadable books'. Quaritch
A blue plate from the original artwork is featured in the Mapp Editions ebook
A spread from the book detailing the process of collating and binding leaves of Book from the Sky at Hanying village, 1989
An installation detail from the work on show at Madrid's Reina Sofia in 1994
'Passages in the Making of a Book' essentially celebrates Xu Bing's feat and discusses its continued relevance
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.
-
Industrial chic meets Thai heat at the new incarnation of a beloved London restaurant
Singburi 2.0 brings all the hot and sour thrills of the original haunt in cool Shoreditch surrounds
-
Comfort, kit and enduring aesthetics make the Hyundai Santa Fe utilitarian and upmarket
Tough looks conceal premium features as Hyundai takes its plug-in hybrid SUV upmarket. Wallpaper* tries out the stylish new South Korean 7-seater
-
Goldwin 0’s first-ever performance wear is body-mapped to keep you cool
The ‘Performance Capsule’ from Goldwin 0 – an experimental offshoot of Japanese technical wear label Goldwin – draws inspiration from trail running for its meticulously tested sportswear, which uses experimental ventilation techniques to help you work out in the heat
-
How to be butch: Clark Henley’s sharp, satirical and playful manual is back in print
The 1982 classic, ‘The Butch Manual: The Current Drag and How to Do It’, full of tongue-in-cheek advice, is available once again
-
We are all fetishists, says Anastasiia Fedorova in her new book, which takes a deep dive into kink
In ‘Second Skin’, writer and curator Fedorova takes a tour through the materials, objects and power dynamics we have fetishised
-
The gayest love story ever told: Jeremy Atherton Lin's memoir is a tribute to home
In 'Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told', Jeremy Atherton Lin mixes memoir with a historical deep-dive into marriage equlaity
-
The glory years of the Cannes Film Festival are captured in a new photo book
‘Cannes’ by Derek Ridgers looks back on the photographer's time at the Cannes Film Festival between 1984 and 1996
-
Taschen’s sexy record covers are hitting all the right notes
Taschen has been through 50 years of album art for its latest tome, ‘Sexy Record Covers’
-
‘Dressed to Impress’ captures the vivid world of everyday fashion in the 1950s and 1960s
A new photography book from The Anonymous Project showcases its subjects when they’re dressed for best, posing for events and celebrations unknown
-
Daniel Arsham’s new monograph collates the works of the auto-obsessed American artist
‘Arsham Motorsport’ is two volumes of inspiration, process and work, charting artist Daniel Arsham’s oeuvre inspired by the icons and forms of the automotive industry
-
Era-defining photographer David Bailey guides us through the 1980s in a new tome not short of shoulder pads and lycra
From Yves Saint Laurent to Princess Diana, London photographer David Bailey dives into his 1980s archive in a new book by Taschen