Xu Bing’s Studio

Rubbings made at the Beijing studio

Last weekend, the six of us gathered up our supplies and embarked on a two-day journey to a remote, untouched section of the Great Wall. We had one goal in mind: to create rubbings for Xu Bing as he prepares for his Roma exhibition in Italy next year.

Following a traditional Chinese ink-rubbing technique, we used xuan paper, ink, ink pads and baiji (a Chinese medicine) to repeatedly “打” (beat or pound) the wall to capture all the weather marks and textures once left behind by history and nature onto the paper. This process allows us to rebuild the wall brick by brick and transform this incredible architecture into a documentation of former times.

Even though my time in Beijing is coming to an end, I feel blessed to be working for such a talented artist who consistently explores the boundaries of communication, meaning, and language. Whether Xu Bing is inventing a new language or creating a universal language between the East and West, I am genuinely in awe of the incredible work he has impacted the world with through his art and am grateful to be learning from my favorite Chinese contemporary artist.

DAY 1: PREPARATION

Setting up camp

Trying to find a path up for tomorrow’s hike

Hanging on for life~

Lamb skewers for dinner!

DAY 2: MAKING RUBBINGS

We’ve made it! After an exhausting six hour climb

The start of our rubbing process

Step 1: attaching the xuan paper with baiji

Patiently waiting for the baiji to dry… (look at all the cracks)

Step 2: beating the wall with ink. We even managed to capture a few carvings

My first rubbing

My Beijing family