This award-winning contemporary art book is made completely from the perspective and language of bugs, from the front page to the final chapter, with no human writing and text, only the "writing" of bugs. Inspired by the marks left behind by a cicada walking across his sketchbook, contemporary artist Zhu Yingchun placed boards and "ink ponds" of dark-coloured vegetable juices in his garden for the bugs to crawl through. The resulting marks, were thousands of twisted characters, each with a charm of its own - the language of the bugs. The accompanying booklet explains the artist's concept and QR code links the reader to a video of the process.
"The bugs seem insignificant, but their strokes are beautiful," says Zhu Yingchun. "Art is not just those pieces hanging on walls and placed in exhibition halls. Everything in the world, including every life in nature, has the power to create beauty, and art is all around us.
Awards
Runner-up for Most Beautiful Books in the World Awards 2017.
Author description
Book designer, artist and book planner, Zhu Yingchun is also Director of Nanjing Normal University Research Center of Book
Culture, and Director of the Jiangsu Province Publishers Association Design and Binding Arts Committee. He was named a
Leading Talent of the News and Publishing Industry of China, and has won the Chinese Government Award for Publishing
Outstanding Editor Award. He is also the recipient of the international award, "The Best Book Design from All Over the World".
His book designs have been exhibited in many countries and territories around the world including UK, Germany, South Korea,
Japan.
Table of contents
Contents:
Booklet (24 pages; artists' concept and QR codes, linking to a video)
Introduction
The Language of Bugs through the Designer's Eyes
The Earthworm - Earth Art
The Ladybug - Miro
The Spider, Mantis, Stinkbug, Ant - Jackson Pollock
The Snail - Ancient Elephant's Molars
The Spot Clothing Wax Cicada - Rorschch Inkblot Test
The Spot Clothing Wax Cicada - Roger Ballen