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Thief

2015

Yan Xing used the Chinese FangSong font (ST FangSong) to create a solid pure-copper sculpture that was hung on the exterior of a building. Digital files were devised to produce the casting mold for this sculpture, on which the Chinese character zei 贼 (thief) appears. The FangSong font, which is built into computers, is one of the most commonly used fonts in the Chinese-speaking world. It evolved gradually from the regular script of the Song dynasty (AD 960-1279) and became the standard format for official government documents due to its elegant and upright appearance and the uniform thickness of its horizontal and vertical strokes. The word "thief" rarely appears in the public sphere, and this elegant font seems to be in some sort of conflict with the massive copper sculpture weighing tens of kilograms. Through this work, Yan Xing attempts to shake up our preconceptions of stability, standardization, and order.

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