Artist: Xu, Bing Title: Vegetable Fields Audio: Date: 1983 Dimensions: 28″ x 36″ Location in Library: First floor Media: Woodcut works on paper Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection. Purchased with Dormitory Authority of New York Art Acquisition Funds. © Xu Bing Description: The Chinese Communist Movement promoted the traditional art of printmaking, especially the woodcut, as a valuable form of communication that could be cheaply produced, easily distributed, and broadly appealing. In 1974, as part of Mao Zedong’s “rustification” program, Bing was sent to work in a small farming community. His experience there is reflected in this woodcut, one of his earliest pieces as a printmaker. The work was considered radical at the time because it depicts a personal view of the countryside without any overt political content. Related Websites– Xu Bing’s Website – CNN Article about Chinese Art – “Artist Xu Bing: Creating English Words from Chinese Pictograms” from The Times – Xu Bing at MoMA  – Xu Bing at Metropolitan Museum of Art Suggested Readings– Ching, Dora C.Y. and Jerome Silbergeld. Persistence-Transformation: Text as Image in the Art of Xu Bing, 2005. Call Number: N7349 .X8 P47 2005– Erickson, Britta. The Art of Xu Bing: Words without Meaning, […]