Copying+the+Orchid+Pavilion+Preface+a+Thousand+Times+--+Qiu+Zhijie



Title: Copying the “Orchid Pavilion Preface” a Thousand Times Artist: Qiu Zhijie 邱志杰 (1969) Date: 1990-95 Period: Contemporary Country of Origin: China Cultural/Ethnic Affiliation: Chinese Medium: Ink on rice paper; single channel video; five digital photograph prints Dimensions: 29 ½ x 59” (75 x 150 cm); DVD duration: 35 minutes; 25" x 59" photographs Museum/Collection: Collection Han Art TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
 * Artwork Identification**

Qiu Zhijie, born 1969 in Fujian Province, is a contemporary Chinese artist, art critic and curator. Qiu lives and works in Beijing, producing a prolific and esteemed collection of works in video, calligraphy, photography and printmaking. In his work //“Copying the Orchid Pavilion Preface a Thousand Times”//, Qiu confronts a recurring theme in contemporary Chinese art--how does one successfully incorporate traditional Chinese culture with contemporary thought and practice. In this multimedia work, Qiu records the process of copying one of the most famous works in the history of Chinese calligraphy, Wang Xizhi’s //// In copying the original work one thousand times, Qiu transforms the significant passage into a single sheet of rice paper saturated with black ink.
 * Introduction**

[the following should be incorporated in the contextual analysis] The work is a pure exploration in the post-modern deconstruction of the art of calligraphy (Hung 185). To note, Qiu has also applied this same copying technique in his work, "Heart Sutra", a significant Buddhist text. This avant-garde experimentation with calligraphy, an otherwise traditional form of representation, is proof that “calligraphy will certainly survive, but in a new and different contex” (Andrews 293).

This is a work that incorporates several media formats; therefore, it is difficult to place into one media category, as it integrates performance, calligraphy, video and photography. The original calligraphy piece was completed on a sheet of rice paper 29.5” wide, and 59” long, with black ink. The work had later been duplicated into photographic prints (25” x 59”). The process in which the artist wrote the first fifty copies of the //Orchid Pavilion Preface// was filmed as a 35 minute, single channel video. The video shows the artist’s hand at work from the first copy as it progresses into total abstraction. Qiu's video recording captures the time spent during the process of copying, enforcing the fleeting yet palpable nature of the work (Chang, 135).
 * Descriptive Analysis**

Calligraphy is rooted deep in traditional Chinese culture, and the common practice of copying master works is definitive in developing technique. Xie He 謝赫, a fIfth century artist famous for his “Six Principles of Chinese Painting,” stressed that making exact copies of ancient, worn masterpieces was a way of preserving them, and that adding something of oneself, was a way of putting new life into the tradition (Sullivan, 96). Working with masterpieces was then a way to connect to the original artist’s spirit and complement it with a personal touch. As the so called Sage of Calligraphy associated with the creation of calligraphy as an expressive art form Wang Xizhi's //Preface to Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion// has served as touchstone of Chinese calligraphy that every inspiring calligrapher tries to master by copying it (Cotter). --a little information about the source work would be appropriate since itself only survives in the form of a copy
 * Contextual Analysis**

In Qiu Zhijie’s //Copying the Orchid Pavilion Preface a Thousand Times//, he follows the repetitive practice of copying the masterwork, but responds personally by pushing the process to the extreme, and copying the piece not on separate sheets of paper but repeatedly on the same sheet a paper. The layered copying seems to suggest several possible interpretations. First, it seems to be a comment on the transitory and spontaneous nature of calligraphy. Historically, the //Lantingjixu (Preface to Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion)// established the tradition that calligraphy should be an art of spontaneity (Chang 133). It is known, that after Wang Xizhi completed this piece, the spirit and quality of the work could not be completely captured again, even by its original creator. That said, Qiu’s layered copying could be a physical statement about the fragility of each copy.Every copy possesses it’s own individuality, that is then covered by the next layer, thus becoming transitory and unrecoverable (Chang 133).

Another way to interpret the piece is through noting the relationship between the traditional culture and the abstract aspects of the work. Calligraphy is intrinsically abstract to some degree; a Chinese character holds a particular meaning that can be manipulated by the artist to be expressive, or emphasize a certain reading of the character. Qiu reconstructs the traditional with an abstract technique, taking the traditional cultural icon and slowly covering it with multiplied reflections until it becomes obsolete, evolving into a black mass of ink. The final result of the artwork contradicts a key feature in works of calligraphy, which ...???. When viewing calligraphy, the the process of creation in all its consecutive phases is meant to be visible in the work (Kraus 29). Qiu buries the gestural imprint of calligraphy with total abstraction.The artist, through his copying, has challenged the Chinese tradition while exploring postmodern modes of expression (Chang 132).

Should have notes //Print Sources// Chang, Tan. __Playing Cards with Cezanne: How the Contemporary Artists of China Copy and Recreate__. Austin: University of Texas at Austin, 2008.
 * References**

Andrews, Julia. "Mapping Chinese Modernity" in Hearn, Maxwell K., and Judith G. Smith. __Chinese Art: Modern Expressions__. New York: Dept. of Asian Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.

Kraus, Richard Curt. __Brushes with Power: Modern Politics and the Chinese Art of Calligraphy__. Berkeley: University of California, 1991.

Sullivan, Michael. __The Arts of China__. Berkley, CA: University of California, 1999.

Wu, Hung, and Peggy Wang. __Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents__. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

//Online Sources// Hsiao-Peng Lu, Sheldon. //"Global Post Modernization: The Intellectual, The Artist, and China's Condition."// Boundary 2 :Postmodernism and China 24.3 (1997): 65-97. JSTOR.

Cotter, Holland. “//ART IN REVIEW: Qiu Zhijie.//” New York Times Online Edition. 20 April 2001. @http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/arts/art-in-review-qiu-zhijie.html