Tianshu - Passages in the Making of a Book

An exhibition on Xu Bing's Book from the Sky opens on 18 March 2009 at Quaritch. 

A book of over 4,000 imaginary characters carved over a period of three years, the Tianshu, or Book from the Sky, was woodblock-printed using traditional methods and paper.  It was exhibited in 1989 at the China/Avant Garde exhibition in Beijing and caused considerable controversy.  Its importance, ‘unreadability’, meaning and artistry have been discussed ever since.  We will be publishing what we hope will be the definitive guide to the Tianshu, which will include essays by Xu Bing and academics such as John Cayley and Haun Saussy.  It will explore the creation and making of the Tianshu, its history and importance.  'The Tianshu is a book as well as an installation and it is illegible but, as is now well known, the properties and methods of Tianshu’s illegibility are notable and suggest that the work has remarkable aesthetic value' (John Cayley, Brown University).

To further information or to request a press release, please contact Katherine Spears.