Author Description

The Character of Characters (2012/2013)—Xu Bing’s first animation, commissioned and generously lent by the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California—is a penetrating, often wry analysis of the Chinese through their calligraphy. Beautiful catalogue with enclosed DVD. Animated from thousands of hand-drawn sketches, the video depicts the roots of Chinese writing in nature and its role in education, spirituality, government... even the way that calligraphy shapes Chinese traffic patterns.