Metamorphoses, Wenda Gu

Artwork Overview

Wenda Gu, Metamorphoses
Wenda Gu, Metamorphoses
Wenda Gu
Metamorphoses
2004
Wenda Gu
born 1955
Metamorphoses, 2004
Where object was made: New York, United States
Material/technique: glue; twine; hair
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): each panel only 199 x 123 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 78 3/8 x 48 7/16 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): each panel with strings 245 x 123 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 96 7/16 x 48 7/16 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Gift of the William T. Kemper Foundation and David Woods Kemper Memorial Foundation in honor of Dr. Chu-tsing Li
Accession number: 2006.0162.a,b,c
On display: Loo Gallery
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Art Minute with David Cateforis
Didactic – Art Minute
Art Minute with David Cateforis
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 127 Oct-2007 I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Today’s artists make art out of every imaginable material, even human hair. Hair is the signature medium of Wenda Gu, who was born in Shanghai in 1955 and moved to New York in 1988. The Spencer’s 2004 work by Gu, Metamorphoses, comprises three large, delicate suspended panels made of hair pressed into glue, supported by a twine matrix, and shaped into unreadable writing: English on the left, ancient Chinese seal script on the right, and a synthesized English-Chinese character in the center. Gu’s pseudo-scripts suggest the limitations of language as a medium of communication, both within and across cultures. But the hair that constitutes the writing is something that all viewers can identify with and understand on a basic level. The work clearly relates to Gu’s personal experience as a transnational artist immersed in both Chinese and American cultures. In larger terms, it invites us to ponder the relationship between language and culture, communication and “misunderstanding,” and to consider Gu’s claim that “human knowledge is always secondary to the body.” From the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.
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Audio Description
Listen to core object information.
Audio Description
The artist is Wenda Gu, born 1955 in Shanghai China. The title of the work is Metamorphoses, created in 2004. This work is made with hair, glue, and twine.
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Audio Description
Listen to App Text
Audio Description
Influenced by the tradition of Chinese calligraphy, Wenda Gu transforms human hair and glue into textile-like panels adorned with invented writing and characters that are meant to confuse or frustrate the viewer. Tap on the Web icon to find out more about Gu’s work with language and the process of working with hair and glue. The work’s title, Metamorphoses, suggests transformation and change. In this artwork, hair transforms into script and the language becomes a set of unreadable signs. By muddling both the characteristics of the hair as a physical material produced by humans and language as a conceptual marker of humanity, Gu looks to a future in which human society transforms into a unified whole. What kinds of reactions do you have to this work? How do they support or differ from the artist’s intended meanings?
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Audio Description
Listen to Audio Description
Audio Description
Metamorphosis consists of three large panels hung side by side showing a combination of illegible English and Chinese characters. Each is a little over six and a half feet high and four feet wide. The panels are hung on wooden rods by multiple strands of twine spaced approximately every eight inches. The ends of the twine stretch down the back of the panels past the lower edge, extending 8–12 inches. The panels hang away from the wall about six inches. The semi-transparent panels are constructed of glue, human hair, and twine. There are swirls of brown and black hair held in place by a thin layer of glue creating a web-like effect. The hair is gathered into thicker strips to form letters and characters. The hair on the left panel has seven lines of English cursive script formed from black hair. At first glance, the words seem to be intelligible, but on closer examination, they are meaningless except for a few words such as “of,” “or,” and “no.” The center panel has one large character taking up most of the panel. This character appears at first glance to be a Chinese character, but on closer look, also resembles the letter K. The right panel has four lines of Chinese characters, also constructed of hair. The artist says that the Chinese characters are also meaningless text.

Links

Watch “How Gu Wenda turns hair and glue into works of art” from SFMOMA (2:11)
Watch “Gu Wenda on the artist as peacemaker” from SFMOMA (3:43)