Post-Marijuana (Dama zhi hou), Written in Shadow Script and Black-on-Black Script

Artists

Description

This large, horizontally oriented, rectangular album leaf is divided visually into two parts, the right one-third, in which the characters appear a ghostly grayish white on a black ground, and the left two-thirds, in which the characters appear dark black on a black ground. The leaf is inscribed with a text of seventy eight characters arranged in twelve columns, the columns with varying numbers of characters and thus of uneven length. The calligraphy on this album leaf was inscribed by Fung Ming Chip (b. 1951; standard Mandarin transcription: Feng Mingqiu). Written with ghostly grayish white characters on a black ground, the right portion of the text comprises twenty five characters arranged in four columns and is written in "xingshu", or cursive script, in a manner that the artist characterizes as Shadow Script; written with dark black characters on a black ground, the left portion of the text comprises fifty three characters arranged in eight columns and also is written in "xingshu", but in a manner that the artist characterizes as Black-on-Black Script. The character count is as follows, counting columns from right to left, as the text reads: Shadow Script portion: Right column Six characters Second column Six characters Third column Seven characters Fourth column Six characters Black-on-Black portion: Fifth column Six characters Sixth column Six characters Seventh column Seven characters Eighth column Seven characters Ninth column Eight characters Tenth column Nine characters Eleventh column Eight characters Left column Two characters (in the lower left corner) This calligraphic work is not dated; however, the artist stated to Robert D. Mowry that he created it in 2009. This calligraphic work is not signed, but it includes one seal of the artist, which identifies it as a work of Fung Ming Chip. The single seal was carved by the artist himself. Its location can be described as follows: Slightly to the right of the center of the album leaf: Square, red, relief seal reading "Si Bu Guan" Note that the seal reading "Si Bu Guan" refers to the artist’s studio: the “Studio of the Four No’s” The inscribed text can be translated as follows: Post-Marijuana The happiness that follows marijuana The twisting and turning Stretching into empty space Craziness and chaos intermingling Mixing good and evil Moving on and on Beyond the sense of value Breaking the shackles of the prisoner’s age of time Striding towards the edge of the night The furthest edge of life Treading, spinning Consciously sinking to the bottom Detached from the soul To become a saint

Dimensions

Calligraphy proper: H. 34.1 x W. 58.1 cm (13 7/16 x 22 7/8 in.) Mounting: H. 50 x W. 70.1 cm (19 11/16 x 27 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Fung Ming Chip, Hong Kong (2009-2010), sold; to Susan L. Beningson, New York, 2010, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2011. Footnotes: This work was created by Fung Ming Chip in Hong Kong in 2009.