Xu-Bing-A-book-from-the-sky.jpg (JPEG Image, 1189 × 570 pixels).

First had the pleasure of seeing a Xu Bing installation at the Freer Gallery in Washington D.C. more than 10 years ago now…  That visit to D.C. towards the end of when I was in high school, maybe the winter of 2002.  Seeing this absurdly magnificent “Book from the Sky” on full display was a treat.  Even though Xu Bing’s “Book” is printed with invented nonsense characters, they are each imbued with a literally unique effort.  Each character is its own satire, its own criticism, its own act in defiance of (scriptographical, orthological?) authority.