Artist:Xu Bing
Medium: Ink on paper
Dates:2018
Dimensions: a (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) a (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) b (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) b (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) frame (a): 94 5/16 × 52 5/16 × 2 1/2 in. (239.6 × 132.9 × 6.4 cm) frame (b): 94 3/8 × 52 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (239.7 × 132.7 × 6.4 cm)
Collections:
Exhibitions:
Accession Number: 2018.24a-b
Image: 2018.24a-b_PS11.jpg,
Catalogue Description: The painting consists of two panels (a, b). The first verse of Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" written in "square word calligraphy," the hybrid writing form invented by the artist. This writing system consists of English words written with letters arranged in bunched stacks resembling Chinese characters, reading from top to bottom but left to right, using small red circles as periods. The first column consists of the title in larger characters at the top: "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," folowed by two columns of smaller characters reading "by Walt Whitman" and "Calligraphy by Xu Bing an artist who once lived in Brooklyn, two thousand and eightteen." At the bottom of the last (right) column, the artist's seal appears in red.