Introduction. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twenty-four hours in the life of “Mr. This installation comprises a set of 4 hand-printed books, as well as wall and ceiling scrolls printed in the style of a wood letterpress. The Book from the Sky is one of the most intriguing Chinese art installations of the century and the nifty work of none other than the celebrated Chinese artist Xu Bing. After creating a book no one could read, it only made sense for Xu Bing to develop his next project: a book that transcended barriers of language: Book from the Ground. Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25. Xu Bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of Book from the Ground. He moved to the United States in 1990 but returned to China in 2008 to teach at his alma mater. The artist first compiled symbols drawn from the public sphere and wrote a book using only these signs. PICTURE THIS: A page of 'Book from the Ground', which narrates a day in the life of an office worker Xu Bing. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twenty-four hours in the life of “Mr. Xu Bing has been undertaking his Book from the Ground project since 2003. From Eslite Gallery, Xu Bing 徐冰, Book from the Ground (2012), Print, 50 × 66 cm After creating a book no one could read, it only made sense for Xu Bing to develop his next project: a book that transcended barriers of language: Book from the Ground. Black,” a typical urban white-collar worker. Book from the Sky and other projects have brought him considerable international renown. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twenty-four hours in the life of Mr. Black, a typical urban white-collar worker. Buy Book from the Ground by Bing Xu from Waterstones today! Book from the Ground is not Xu's first project to contemplate language and writing. Composed entirely of pictographs, Book from the Ground is a groundbreaking study into the concept of universal communication. Xu Bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of Book from the Ground. Xu Bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of Book from the Ground. Born in Sichuan Province, Xu Bing studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Black,” a typical urban white-collar worker. At the seminal 1989 exhibition, Xu Bing exhibited his sprawling and now-iconic installation, originally titled Fenxi Shijie de Shu (A book that analyzes the world), better known today as Tianshu or Book from the Sky. 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