Photo courtesy of The Universty of Arizona Mueeum of Art

Zi-jie bends over his work of art, "Copying One THousand Times," as he paints. The piece is on dispaly at the "Power of Word" exhibit through sept. 23.

Thursday August 30, 2001 |

It's hard to believe that something titled "Power of the Word" could have the power to leave viewers so, well, speechless.

The exhibit - which displays art made from human hair, dried placenta and electrical boxes, to name a few - is currently on display at the UA Museum of Art.

What makes this exhibition so spectacular is its ability to resist all expectations and conventions.

The exhibit consists of nine Chinese artists' works. According to the exhibition's overseer Alisa Shorr, the artists are "taking traditional calligraphy and putting a contemporary spin on it in a variety of ways."

The exhibit employs a diversity of media. Woodcuts, sculpture and an instructional video make the calligraphic displays accessible and interesting to a variety of tastes.

One artist, Gu Wanda, created an 80-foot mural of psuedo-words made of real human hair. The piece stretches the entire length of one wall, and onto half of another.

"(Wanda's hair exhibit) uses human hair from all over the world," said Kris Wagman, a museum employee. "It shows Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese characters, and it was originally displayed at the U.N. We didn't have enough room here to display the whole thing."

Wanda also mailed a piece to the museum with special orders to spread a substance out in calligraphic letters. The substance they received was simply labeled "human placenta." The letters ended up spelling out a message having to do with China's stance on limited childbirth.

Art graduate student Matthew Gross opened the box when it arrived.

"A wave of slight disgust overcame me as I first examined the bagged contents, but then, as I placed my gloved hands into the material, sifted through the ground material (both fine and coarse), I began to appreciate the highly textured organic quality of the material," Gross said. "And then I realized, in an epiphanical way, the possibilities of placenta as an artistic medium."

Not all of the exhibits are so extreme.

Graffiti artists and fans alike might take heart in another exhibit by an artist that calls himself the "King of Kowloon," also known as Tsang Tsou-Choi.

Tsou-Choi's pieces appear down-to-earth because they are made from common public items such as utility boxes and lampposts - typical urban furnishings. These boxes and posts, however, are covered in anti-government protest and ancestry sentiments. The messages are written entirely in thick black Chinese calligraphy.

Another artist who might appeal to the curious is Hung Tung, who Shorr described as a "Chinese folk artist." Tung arranges drawings of people in acrobatic positions so that the end result is calligraphic.

"Tung uses a code or secret language of his own that looks like calligraphy," Shorr said.

In conjunction with this exhibition is an attached side exhibit teaching the processes that go along with learning to write Chinese calligraphy. The side room is filled wall-to-wall with examples of just how hard it is to capture a true calligraphic image, and the process each symbol goes through to be created.

Also included are copies of the late Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung's calligraphy, which proves to be quite skilled, given the company of artists he is placed with.

"Power of Word" is a traveling exhibition from New York. Its last day at the UA Museum of Art is Sept. 23.

The museum is also offering free public programs about China's artistic, social and political history.

On Sept. 9, there will be an ink painting demonstration at noon, and at 1 p.m. Dr. Roel Sterckx will present a talk titled "The Origins of Writing in Ancient China." Both events are free and will take place at the Museum of Art.

More events, demonstrations and speakers will follow throughout September; for a full list, call 621-7567 or visit the museum's Web site at artmuseum.arizona.edu.