Mi Sai Er 觅塞尔 (Missile)

Qiu Anxiong, artist

born 1972

Mi Sai Er 觅塞尔 (Missile), 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: 2009.0111.12

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.
Missile (覓塞爾, Mi Sai Er)
This fish was first found in the state of Jieman [Germany] of the West. The fish has a slim, long body. It can travel by attaching itself to the body of birds and beasts. It can also fly in the air by itself. This fish has no eyes but it has many fins. It is skilled in seeking objects and it will destroy other objects that it touches. Once the fish appears that country will suffer the affairs of war. Its name is Mi Sai Er [Missile].

Exhibition Label:
"Qiu Anxiong: New Book of Mountains and Seas," Feb-2010, Kris Ercums
Inscription:
In the Western kingdom of Jieman there is a
birdlike beast with the long body of a fish that flies through the air. Without eyes but with many fins, it excels in searching for and destroying things. It is called the Missile.