Sun Xun (Chinese, born 1980). <em>The Time Vivarium - Silk Book 2</em>, 2014. Ink and acrylic on silk, closed: 18 3/8 x 14 x 2 7/8 in. (46.7 x 35.6 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Stanley Love and Sylvia Mitchell, by exchange, Robert A. Levinson Fund, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, Alfred T. White Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund, 2015.46. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.46_PS9.jpg)

Sun Xun (Chinese, born 1980). The Time Vivarium - Silk Book 2, 2014. Ink and acrylic on silk, closed: 18 3/8 x 14 x 2 7/8 in. (46.7 x 35.6 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Stanley Love and Sylvia Mitchell, by exchange, Robert A. Levinson Fund, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, Alfred T. White Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund, 2015.46. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.46_PS9.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

The Time Vivarium - Silk Book 2

Sun Xun

Asian Art

Sun Xun often discusses how history is a tool that can be manipulated by either the government, or an artist, to serve different goals. His father, prosecuted during political campaigns in the 1960s, was a factory worker. The personal histories told to Sun at home contrasted sharply with the versions taught in school. In 2013, Sun came to New York as part of an artist residency and visited the American Museum of Natural History. He compared the dioramas in the museum to Chinese official histories and accounts of the past, in which the content was manipulated to fit a prescribed narrative. He wrote, “The exhibits, like state history, are designed with a sociopolitical agenda, heavily influencing notions of cultural identity.” Unlike the dioramas, The Time Vivarium will be by definition “a place of life” with different chapters that form the series, some focusing on museums of history and others on museums of “prejudice history.” Sun asks, “Which history does China wish to remember and which does it seek to be part of?”

Sun’s inscriptions in the folding book were written in dialogue with the scenes depicted in it:

My solo exhibition in New York was at the end of 2013. The exhibition was called Time Vivarium. I was enlightened by my father’s memory of the Cultural Revolution in his youth. At this time last year, I visited New York to find clues for the exhibition. The Natural History Museum gave me a lot of inspiration.
Man’s attitude is very important, whether it is toward nature or history. Different cultures cultivate different worldviews.

Sometimes cultures are just like magic and can completely alter everything.
The universe in early morning

Memory of Father
Dimension of Memory

Freedom Island
There is also a Statue of Liberty in Tokyo.

—Sun Xun, New York, December 2014

ARTIST Sun Xun, Chinese, born 1980

MEDIUM Ink and acrylic on silk

DATES 2014

DIMENSIONS closed: 18 3/8 x 14 x 2 7/8 in. (46.7 x 35.6 x 7.3 cm) open: 18 1/4 x 194 in. (46.4 x 492.8 cm) (show scale)

INSCRIPTIONS [Right to left] 癸巳岁末适逢纽约个展在即，展览名称为时间公园。灵感皆来自家父青年时期文化革命之回忆。去年此时我前往纽约寻找展览之线索。其中自然历史博物馆对我启发很大。无论于自然还是历史，人的态度很重要。 My solo exhibition in New York is occuring by the end of 2013. The exhibition was called Time Park/Vivarium. I was enlightened by my father's memory of the Cultural Revolution in his youth. At this time last year I visited New York to find clues for the exhibition. The Natural History Museum gave me a lot of inspiration. Man's attitude is very important, whether it is towards nature or history. 巫肺领地 Witch Territory 不同的文化造就不同的世界观人的态度隐藏在万物之中 Different cultures cultivate different world-views. People's attitude can be found in all living things. 年年有鱼（余） lit: Every year have fish Every year have enough 文化在有的时候就像巫术可以改变一切。 Sometimes cultures are just like magic that can completely alter everything. 恍若隔世 as different as if a lifetime had passed 乾坤暮晨 The universe in early morning 父亲的回忆 Memory of father 记忆之维度 Dimension of memory 自由岛 Freedom Island 东京也有自由女神像 There also is a Statue of Liberty in Tokyo. 语言中的现实 The reality in languages 大独裁者 A Dictator 戏剧 Drama 对于文化和艺术，哪怕是面对整个世界，最重要的莫过于心不在焉。 When talking about culture and art, even if you've encountered/experienced the whole world, the most important thing is to see it in an absent-minded way/not to take it too seriously 孙逊于纽约 Sun Xun in New York December 2014

COLLECTIONS Asian Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2015.46

CREDIT LINE Gift of Stanley Love and Sylvia Mitchell, by exchange, Robert A. Levinson Fund, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, Alfred T. White Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund

EXHIBITIONS

Contemporary Chinese Art Installation

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Sun Xun (Chinese, born 1980). The Time Vivarium - Silk Book 2, 2014. Ink and acrylic on silk, closed: 18 3/8 x 14 x 2 7/8 in. (46.7 x 35.6 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Stanley Love and Sylvia Mitchell, by exchange, Robert A. Levinson Fund, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, Alfred T. White Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund, 2015.46. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.46_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2015.46_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2016

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Collection Menu

The Time Vivarium - Silk Book 2

Sun Xun

Asian Art

RELATED OBJECTS