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Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei
As a contemporary artist from China, Ai Weiwei is considered a monumental figure in the development of Chinese culture and is known for his thought-provoking and controversial art creations across the globe.
As a conceptual artist, Ai Weiwei’s way of working is lead by his ideas and concepts rather than the finished pieces. He uses a range of different mediums and materials to create whatever forms are most appropriate to show his ideas. He has ranged from photography to ceramics. to architecture and many more. Inspired by his father, an activist, who created poetry highlighting the corruption of the Chinese government on topics such as democracy and human rights, opened Ai Weiwei’s eyes to the reality of life under the Chinese government and became the starting point for his own work. In his 20’s Ai Weiwei moved to America where he was introduced to the work of Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol. He was deeply inspired by both and was influenced by Duchamp’s method of using items or “readymades” to create art. Coming back to China years later when his father fell ill, he began making controversial artworks and subsequently was arrested and detained by the Chinese government for 81 days. Since then, he has been monitored by the police and is often asked to stay away from creating political work. However, this does not faze Ai Weiwei as he continues to create work fuelled by the development of Chinese culture.
One of his installations that interested me is his collection ‘Colored Vases’, here Weiwei has dipped earthenware vases in industrial paint. When first viewing his exhibition, I was immediately drawn to the beautiful, coloured vases that were very aesthetically pleasing. All in beautiful bold bright colours that complimented each other I couldn’t see anything majorly controversial about this installation. Despite that, revealing the true concept behind his piece left me uneasy in more than one way. The collection of vases were not what they seemed at first glance, Ai Weiwei had taken 2,000 year old Neolithic vases dating back to 4500BC and dunked them in colourful industrial paint. My first reaction was to be horrified, not only were they of sentiment and a piece of history, but also wonderful pieces of precious ceramics. As a ceramicist, I am always amazed at historical pieces, while they lack the colour I am drawn to, they show incredible craftmanship and skill from a time where ceramics was not as accessible as it is now. It also goes against my belief of once you touch ceramics with anything that’s not ceramic material, such as paint, it is not ceramics anymore. However, after researching what Ai Weiwei was really conveying was the truth behind the Chinese Revolution and what was happening to Chinese traditions and cultures. The paint is concealing the true traditional ancient vases much like the Chinese Revolution did with it’s history and traditions.
Before and After
Concept and origin is very important in understanding Ai Weiwei’s art, not everything is as it seems. Ai Weiwei has enlightened me to a different perspective in how Ceramics can be used to create art, and how they can be used to bring attention to important topics in an unexpected, shocking but revolutionary way.
Dropping a Han dynasty Urn 1995
Ai Weiwei - Yours Truly Documentary
Ai Weiwei - Yours Truly Documentary
A couple weeks later I watched a documentary on Ai Weiwei that was on sky arts about his exhibition in Alcatraz. It was really interesting to see his life and learn even more about him, his life, family, imprisonment and most of all to see the 'behind the scenes' of his installations.
What really moved me in this documentary was seeing how many people like him, who speak out for justice against their own governments corruption get imprisoned. Weiwei's interactive exhibition where he created Lego sculptures of each of these prominent figures from around the world was eye opening and furthermore, when he allowed members of the public to write post cards to these wrongful prisoners showing them support and encouraging them to still fight for what is right, it was amazing to see the results of hundreds of postcards being sent to these individuals in prison and their responses in the documentary.
I'd 100% recommend watching it.
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