Artist: Sun Xun
Title: A War About Chinese Words
Year: 2005
Medium: Hand drawn animation
Duration: 2m 12s
Accession Number: US2015-04
Acquisition info:
Growing up in an industrial mining town in north east China, in a period following the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the lingering after effects of this movement have a profound impact on Xun’s work. Exploring global history, culture, memory and politics, Xun is particularly interested in the way historical events are perceived and remembered by ‘ordinary’ citizens compared to official and media representations and reports. Sun Xun is acclaimed for his ability to combine traditional craft techniques and mediums, including painting, woodcut, ink and charcoal drawing, with digital technologies and stop-motion animation. Much of his work utilises folk and vernacular imagery to consider China’s history, and the ways in which the nation has articulated itself.
A War About Chinese Words is one of Sun Xun’s earliest works. A hand-drawn animation, the artist created a story using Chinese characters, in which simple lines and strokes morph between letters, figures and animals – moving and fighting together across the screen. Xun is acclaimed for his ability to combine traditional craft techniques and mediums, including painting, woodcut, ink and charcoal drawing, with digital technologies and stop-motion animation. Much of his work utilizes folk and vernacular imagery to consider China’s history, and the ways in which the nation has articulated itself. He is particularly interested in the ways historical events are perceived and remembered by ‘ordinary’ citizens compared to official and media representations and reports. A War About Chinese Words gestures towards the conflicts at play when trying to address these contradictory historical narratives: words put to battle, stories fighting for the opportunity to be seen, read, or heard.