Xu Bing

Ku-tan (Dried Pond)

Xu Bing

Ku-tan (Dried Pond)

Date

1986

Edition Size

10

Media

Wood block

Binding

Loose pages

Format

Print

Dimensions

21.5 × 28.75 in

Collection


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St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM)

Part of Xu Bing’s 1987 woodcuts titled five series of repetitions, recording the stages of carving the block of wood prior to printing, a process that is usually obliterated. For these works, he made an impression of each state – beginning with a solid black print from an uncarved block and ending with a blank white ‘print’ representing the block after the raised surface had been completely carved away. The prints were mounted successively in a strip, progressing from nothing to something and back to nothing, they hint at the cycle of life.