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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie 邱志傑
Copying the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion One Thousand Times 重複書寫蘭亭序一千遍
1990–1995
This installation consists of a video and a digital print that record the transformation of writing on a sheet of rice paper. The video shows the artist writing calligraphy with an ink brush. As the black ink fills the paper, the strokes lose their distinctiveness, and the text becomes illegible. Eventually, only a black rectangular field remains. Qiu Zhijie spent five years copying Wang Xizhi’s (303–361) Lantingxu (‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’) one thousand times. Lantingxu is an important text, traditionally studied by Chinese calligraphy students. Qiu, who has studied calligraphy since his youth, appropriates this traditional art form and transforms it into a contemporary abstract painting. Calligraphy is incorporated in many of Qiu’s works, beginning with early pieces such as 1994’s Tattoo series of photographs, which depict Chinese characters written on his body and on a white wall behind him.
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