The Artist, Xu Bing And His Tobacco Project

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May 31, 2012
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Pipe

2004
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Light as Smoke

2011

440 pound block of tobacco embossed with the words "light as smoke" on top
"Xu Bing’s piece highlights the contrast between the materiality of tobacco and its evanescence when consumed."


XuBing_05_Match-Flower-with-visitors_LG_conflict-20131121-013947.jpg


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Match Flower

2011
see them, and others,

here:

http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v10n2/gallery/ravenal_j/xu-bing.shtml
Further reading,

here:

http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/china-trade
Another interesting thing,

the Reel Book

featuring text from the old classic,

With the Poets in Smokeland

here:

http://www.artesmagazine.com/2012/04/aldrich-contemporary-art-museum-with-installation-art-by-xu-bing/
Also note the wonderful Chinese poem quoted there,

I love it.

Puffing fragrance, exhaling the Sage’s vapor;
Bluish tendrils born from the subtle smoke.
The Gentleman’s Companion, it warms my heart
And leaves my mouth feeling like a divine furnace
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNlgVsQUMOI

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Tobacco for smoking or tobacco for art. That should be the question.
I think that the Irish, the Scottish, and the English achieved that magical equilibrium of making pipe tobacco which was high art,

but also very damn fine for smoking.
And adding their advertising, tin art, and overall technique of proper presentation

was just such the very rich icing on a scrumptious yummy cake.
:puffy:

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I think that the Irish, the Scottish, and the English achieved that magical equilibrium of making pipe tobacco which was high art,

but also very damn fine for smoking.
And adding their advertising, tin art, and overall technique of proper presentation

was just such the very rich icing on a scrumptious yummy cake.
I cannot agree with you more, Sir.

 
You sure are classing up the joint, mlc. I need to make sure I have my tie on straight when I login, ha ha.
I love installation pieces, well good ones anyways. It's pretty cool that tobacco is his inspiration and in a positive way. I could see so many ways this could have gone very wrong, with big tar filled lungs nailed to the walls and photographs of tumors in vivid colors. Like with music and literature, it is so much easier to evoke a sense of the grotesque, fear, or apprehension than to instill reverence and express the spiritual nature of something.
Nice find!!

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
I could see so many ways this could have gone very wrong, with big tar filled lungs nailed to the walls and photographs of tumors in vivid colors. Like with music and literature, it is so much easier to evoke a sense of the grotesque, fear, or apprehension than to instill reverence and express the spiritual nature of something.
So very true Cosmic,

it was a really nice surprise.
And I agree with you about installation art when it's done good it can be a perception shifting experience, but all too often there's alotta stuff that's way too heavy handed like the artist is trying to convey some deep profound truth which in essence usually boils down to bullshit, similar to many "performance artists" and the ridiculous antics they do trying to say that they're making philosophical social commentary.
Don't get me wrong, I love tons of conceptual art, but it has also opened the doors wide open for many idiots out there to do any absurd thing they want to do and call it "art".
Fluxus was my favorite art movement of the late 20th century, but some of their performance pieces just makes you scratch yer head and wonder what the hell you're doing watching it LOL
My favorite part of the video below is 0:04-0:10 with the intro and engine revving of an old Lotus F1 car,

the rest is mildly entertaining, but induces that head-scratching I was talking about.

However, if I was a well-educated art critic I could write a 20 page treatise on the brilliance of its conception and point to numerous metaphysical and sociological aspects that the piece is addressing...LOL
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj0pxipGNr8

 
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