“I don’t see myself as a dissident artist…” — Ai Weiwei
“… I see them as a dissident government!”
“Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put aside from using one’s imagination — perhaps more importantly — creativity is the power to act.”
Biography
Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing. The most famous Chinese artist is also an architect, a curator, an art consultant, a filmmaker but, most of all, an activist. This is the reason why Ai Weiwei became internationally well-known while facing repression in his own country. Between 2010 and 2011, he had to face the Chinese authorities who decided to detain him for a period of time in prison and, then, to house arrest.
“I don’t see myself as a dissident artist,” he says. “I see them as a dissident government!”
His provocative artworks include sculptural installations, architectural projects, photographs, and videos. But still, installations remain his most significant works because they reflect upon the creation of a dialogue between our contemporary world and the traditional Chinese themes, both in the production and in the expression of ideas. A clear example is Coca-Cola Vase (1994), one of his double identity artwork: it is a Han Dynasty urn which comes with the well-known soft-drink logo. His creativity has also helped the design of the Bird’s Nest stadium for Beijing’s 2008 Olympics as well as the creation of several pavilions and museum exhibitions around the world.Emblematic Projects
Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995)
In Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, he shows his desire to provoke controversy: he broke down a 2000-year old ceremonial urn just behind his mother’s home, in Beijing. Cultural, symbolic and even considerable monetary value were smashed together with this “performance”. Due to the fact that the Han Dynasty is considered a defining moment for the Chinese civilisation, antique dealers were shocked. The controversial conceptual performance was just an act against the Communist China which was starting to control everything in the State, particularly with reference to the access of information and especially about the “erasure” of Chinese dynastic history.
“General Mao used to tell us that we can only build a new world if we destroy the old one.”
Sunflower Seeds (2010)
“Sunflower Seeds” is a sculptural installation created to fit the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern, in London. Artwork’s meaning is to be found in creation of more than one hundred million handmade sunflower seeds made by local Chinese craftsmen. In a society where mass-production and standardisation comes together with the exploitation of low cost workers, the artwork shows the beauty of small porcelain pieces created by real artist coming from Jingdezhen area. This is the reason why it became a powerful commentary on the human condition and invites the public to reflect upon the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon.
The artwork was also created to reflect upon an autobiographical issue. Historically, Chairman Mao was depicted as the sun and his population to be as sunflowers turning towards him. Sunflowers remembered even a societal positive image to the artist: the sharing of sunflower seeds, in the local street market, as a kindness gesture during extreme poverty and repression.
He Xei (2011)
For “He Xei” this installation 3000 individually-crafted porcelain crabs were used to refer to a societal metaphor where citizens are truly oppressed, together with an autobiographical message. In 2010, Chinese authorities demolished Ai’s studio stating he had not the right to establish it. The artist exploits this situation in his favour: he created a performance where 800 people were invited to see his studio to be torn down and ordered 10,000 crabs. Clear highlights to one of his main theme: the resistance against communist oppression. After this episode, he was placed under house arrest.
The title of this installation means “river crab.” The term could also refer to “censorship” if it is related to the complex and controlled society system faced by the Chinese State. It could be even compared to “harmonious,” a term appeared in a well-known Chinese Communist Party’s slogan which was often used for limiting access to information. Of course, in China, there was nothing that could be seen as harmonious. Resistance and escape were toughly managed by the Chinese Communist Party, just to mention an example.
Some Exhibitions
(2017) Ai Weiwei: Tyre, Galerie Forsblom, Stockholm
(2016) Ai Weiwei — #SafePassage, Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam
(2016) We Call it Ludwig : The Museum is Turning 40!, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
(2016) New Tate Modern Switch House: Extension and Installation, Tate Modern, London
(2016) Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh
(2016) Campaign for Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco
(2015) Ai Weiwei, Royal Academy of Arts, London
(2015) Ai Weiwei: Ruptures, Faurschou Foundation, Nordhavn
(2014) Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn
(2013)Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
