Xu Bing B. 1955

Smithsonian "Seal" Project
(Each name has ed. 10)

This "Seal" has been produced as an example of Xu Bing's "Square Word Calligraphy". Since the late 1980s, Xu Bing has created art that explores the meaning of language through the human ability/inability to read. "Square Word Calligraphy" is a system of writing invented by Xu Bing that combines English words with the square format of Chinese Calligraphy. Words that are written in "Square Word Calligraphy" look like Chinese characters but cannot be read as such. Although the words look unfamiliar to western viewers, they are, in fact, written in English.