Writing Time: The Shufa of Fung Ming Chip

Abstract

Fung Ming Chip (馮明秋, b. 1951) is a contemporary artist based in Hong Kong who practices shufa (書法, lit. “the way of writing”). Traditionally, shufa is the art of writing Chinese characters with a brush on paper or silk; it is deeply connected to the arts of poetry and painting. However, the theories of making and viewing that undergird traditional shufa, as well as the stakes of its contemporary practice, remain largely unknown to Western audiences. This essay is a response to Fung’s latest solo exhibition, entitled NumberS Series. It considers how Fung Ming Chip’s latest works have moved beyond traditional shufa practice and language itself to examine the relationship between art and time. Unlike previous critical works that contextualize Fung’s art with respect to Euro–North American art and art history, this article uses Fung’s writings and early Chinese theories of aesthetics and ontology to establish that his art works in a distinctly non-Western manner that has its own relevance and perspective for a contemporary, global audience.