The inquisition: Xu Bing, conceptual artist
China’s leading conceptual artist talks about his work and how it enables him to express his true personality
This title was given by the curator [Koon Yee-wan]. She must have her own thought process for this curatorial approach.
I haven't paid particular attention to it. I wouldn't be able to guess the curator's intention, but my feeling is that she wants to emphasise — because this exhibition is like a little retrospective of mine — the different states of my works. The works aren't uniform in format or appearance because I've never considered art according to genres or styles, but the inherent thread linking them is actually very clear. So maybe her emphasis is on how my work evolves with the times.
Conceptually speaking, we haven't included anything new here. We have basically included some of my more important works. But owing to the limited size of the exhibition hall, we can't make it a very comprehensive exhibit — we can't include the really large-scale pieces, for example. This is like a sampling of my work.
Most painters start with an interest in doodling, and I did too, but I never thought that I would still be doing art until now. On the outside, the installations I've been doing have very little to do with how I started in calligraphy and printmaking. Each installation is like a construction project. It involves the overall design, making decisions on materials, sourcing them, enlisting different departments or factories to manufacture the piece according to the feeling I'm looking to evoke, and determining how to install it and let it interact with the exhibition space. I've done a lot of installations at different art museums around the world, and I feel like I'm an international [construction] contractor.
In the academic and pioneering realms of the art world, mixed-media works and installations with experimental components tend to attract more attention. But in the commercial realm — China has a very vibrant art market — the business is mainly done with two-dimensional paintings. That's how I see it.
Yes, I do have this tendency. I like things that are difficult and require me to exercise my brain. My personal motivation stems from the challenge to turn my ideas into artworks. I like to compare the final works with my initial ideas and see how much they've deviated. The curiosity and motivation also come from the fact that no one has realised a particular idea before.