Bi Tu 必图 (B2 Bomber)

Qiu Anxiong, artist

born 1972

Bi Tu 必图 (B2 Bomber), 2008

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

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: woodcut; rice paper

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: 2009.0111.09

Not on display

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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.
B2 Bomber (必圖, Bi Tu)
There is a giant bird residing on the Continent of Ameilikan [America]. It does not have a head, and its wings are long and wide. Flying above clouds at a place of extreme height this bird never perches. If it wants to perch for a break, it will always return to its own nest. People are rarely able to see it. It lays its eggs in the sky. And when its eggs touch the earth, they generate thunder on the ground. Whatever comes into contact with this bird turns into dusts and ash. Its name is Bi Tu [B2 Bomber].

Exhibition Label:
"Qiu Anxiong: New Book of Mountains and Seas," Feb-2010, Kris Ercums
On the American continent there is a giant bird
with no head. Its wings are large, and it flies above the clouds. To rest it must return to its nest. Rarely observed, it lays eggs in the sky that release thunder when they hit the ground and obliterate the surrounding area.