Ting Du 廷独

Qiu Anxiong, artist

born 1972

Ting Du 廷独, 2008

Portfolio/Series title: Xin Shanhai Jing 新山海经 (New Book of Mountains and Seas)

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: rice paper; woodcut

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 420 x 500 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 16 9/16 x 19 11/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 497 x 577 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 9/16 x 22 11/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 32 x 24 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 2009.0111.07

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Temporal Turn: Art and Speculation in Contemporary Asia

This print portfolio suggests a traditional Chinese book, but depicts the fantastical creatures featured in chapter one of Qiu Anxiong’s video trilogy The New Book of Mountains and Seas. Each of the bizarre creatures is accompanied by an inscription using archaic terminology and composed in classical Chinese that simulates the Shanhai Jing, a second-century geographic text describing strange creatures in distant lands, upon which the name of the video trilogy is derived.
Submarine (廷獨, Ting Du)
In the Northern Ocean, there is a giant creature capable of traveling secretly under the ocean for thousands of miles. Its body is black and its skin is firm and tight. Its eyes grow at the end of its dorsal fin. There is an orifice on its back from which small fish jump to reach the height of the clouds. The name of this creature is Ting Du [Submarine].

Exhibition Label:
"Qiu Anxiong: New Book of Mountains and Seas," Feb-2010, Kris Ercums
Inscription:
There is a large beast in the darkness that dives several kilometers under the ocean. Its body is black and its skin is as strong as steel. Its eyes are on the tips of the fins on its back. Its back has holes that birth small fish that can jump higher than the clouds. It is called Ting Du.