‍Xu Bing, one of the world's most influential Chinese contemporary artists, is both playful and insightful in his unique way of interacting with language, provoking experiment, and finding unchartered path towards expression. Unlike many of his contemporaries, his work appeals to both the high-brow art circle and the public alike. This is reflected by the crowd that attend his Beijing exhibition, "Xu Bing: Thought and Method", his most comprehensive retrospective exhibition to date.

Xu Bing is the kind of artist who is constantly thinking and digging. It was the concept he abided by when he was in China during his youth and when he lived in New York for 18 years. He carried it with him when he moved back to China simply because he wanted to be where the energy is, not to mention how the technologies are transforming the lives of billion. He seems to have found the real secret behind the relationship between vision and meaning, in all cultures.

Xu Bing wrote "A Book from the Sky", a social commentary on literary culture. When asked on his work in an interview with Tian Wei, the host of CGTN's program World Insight, Xu bing said, “I really say something that no one has ever said,” and the book “is Chinese, traditional Chinese philosophy.”  

Xu Bing stayed in America for 18 years before coming back to China. The reason behind his back-and-forth is simple: he wants to be where the energy is! Philip Tinari, the director and CEO of UCCA, and co-curator of the exhibition, understands that feeling well. In fact, Philip's connection to Chinese contemporary art started when he first encountered Xu Bing's art. He could not help but express his fascination with those works.

Xu Bing, an artist with a constantly curious mind, finally made his latest work Dragonfly Eyes, after researching and experimenting for five years. In the beginning, he saw some security camera recordings on TV, and he was immediately hooked. The end result is 10,000 hours of publicly available surveillance videos collected by the artist, condensed into an 81-minute-long film that follows the plot of a love story. It was then that Xu Bing knew it was right decision moving back to China.

World Insight With Tian Wei is a 45-minutes global affairs and debate show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 10:15 p.m. BJT (1415GMT) with rebroadcasts at 4:15 a.m. BJT (20:15GMT)

(Cover: Xu Bing /Screenshot by CGTN)