Jabberwocky in Writing: Xu Bing's Translingual Experiments

Columbia University presents a talk with Lydia Liu on Xu Bing's method of writing English words in rectangular arrangements which resemble Chinese characters.

Professor Lydia Liu will give a lecture on "Jabberwocky in Writing: Xu Bing's Translingual Experiments" during "Xu Bing at Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery" at Columbia University. Lydia Liu is a W.T. Tam Professor in the Humanitiesat the Columbia University.

In Square Word Calligraphy, Xu Bing has devised a method of writing English words in rectangular arrangements which resemble Chinese characters. A code of calligraphic script elements maps to the 26 Roman letters and a relatively simple set of rules for the composition of square words allow one to write English using Chinese calligraphic principles. As a piece of conceptual art, Xu Bing has composed and published a manual of 'Chinese-style calligraphy' written entirely in these English 'square words'—it looks like a Chinese book, but once the code is learned it is perfectly legible as English. A companion volume provides instruction and practice space for the basic principles of the artist-created calligraphy system.

At the Wallach Art Gallery, multiple copies of this book will be installed in a classroom-like installation complete with teaching video. Gallery visitors are invited to try their hand at this new 'Chinese' way of writing English. As people attempt to recognize and write these words, some of the thinking patterns that have been ingrained in them since they learned to read are challenged. While undergoing this process of estrangement and re-familiarization with one's written language, the audience is reminded that the sensation of distance between other systems of language and one's own is largely self-induced.

No registration required.