Rectangular print of black tadpole-like forms arranged in an organic, oblong shape, surrounded by thin black cross hatching marks going in various directions.

Xu Bing 徐冰

Life Pond from Five Series of Repetitions

Maker

Xu Bing 徐冰 (Chinese, b. 1955 in Chongqing, China)

Title

Life Pond from Five Series of Repetitions

Year

1986

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

woodcut

Supports

Dimensions

50.5 x 68.6 cm (19 7/8 x 27 inches)

Identification

Edition

12/50

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2005.56

Type

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

Tadpoles are the focus of this monochromatic woodcut, part of a series that also addresses the process of printmaking. Over ten works, the print- maker begins by printing an uncarved woodblock in black ink and ends by carving the entirety of the block. This account of nothing progressing to something and back to nothing also evokes the cycle of life.

—WC

Image use

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Tombstone

Xu Bing 徐冰 (Chinese, b. 1955 in Chongqing, China)
Life Pond from Five Series of Repetitions, 1986
Woodcut on paper
50.5 x 68.6 cm (19 7/8 x 27 inches)
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2005.56

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