The Life and Works of Ai WeiWei
The data in this link focuses on Ai WeiWei, a well-known artist whose work frequently made news. Ai is well recognized for his political themes and unreserved treatment of China's history in his writings.
Early Life and Education
After graduating from the Parsons Design School, WeiWei started creating art in Beijing.
Rise to Fame
Ai rose to fame after creating the Bird's Net stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Before being detained by Chinese authorities in 2011 as he attempted to board a plane, WeiWei displayed laptops, hard drives, and notebooks in an exhibition in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau.
The Stool Art
Ai was also arrested because he arranged 6,000 wooden stools at the atrium space, which reflected both his artistic experience with repression as well as the social upheaval of China (Eddy 13). The stools were lined up in tight rows so as to fit the sunken floor of the exhibition's central atrium. Ai studied the building and the drawing plans before he created tight rows that looked pixelated from a short distance.
Political Activism through Art
His works made the Chinese authorities accuse him as a political activist through his outspoken censorship and art as well as the political highlights through his work.
"Very Yao" Installation
WeiWei also created a web of 150 bicycles which he bought from the Shanghai forever bike makers and suspended them from a rotunda called 'Very Yao.' The bikes commemorated a stolen bike by the young Beijing president who was arrested because of stealing a bike for the purpose of gaining public sympathy and the pain he suffered from being harassed by the police. The stool art gave the members of the society an aesthetical and deep spiritual exhibition which were raised with the German politicians and public.
The Lego Art
The second link shows how Wei Wei’s art was judged for a bag of colorful Legos which were laid on the floor in a plastic of dozen base plates that he put in a room that was meant for activities for a well-funded summer camp. The weird part was also the five young women and men who instead of becoming camp chancellors, they instead helped WeiWei to root in the boxes of Legos. The Legos commemorated 176 portraits of prisoners of political and conscience exiles worldwide. The 1.2 million Legos also represented Nelson Mandela (South African leader) and Lolo the Tibetan pop singer, and Edward Snowden the American whistleblower.
@Large WeiWei on the Alcatraz
The art of using Legos had a popular name called the "@Large WeiWei on the Alcatraz," which was planned by a San Francisco public art producer For-Site (Finkel 7). The installation of the art in the Alcatraz prison featured the political prisoners' portraits that were incorrectly referred to the North Korean prisoner Shin Suk-ja. Unlike the Legos WeiWei had also created a pathway of museum-goers in London at the Tate Modern which was composed of millions of Sunflower seeds that were porcelain and hand-painted.
Expression through Dance
The third link is a YouTube video that shows the dissident activist WeiWei showing off his moves to the world from a phenomenon music that had the Gangnam style. Despite his age (55 years), Ai showed an element of his own by appearing with handcuffs in a scene of his dance that was done by a South Korean rapper Psy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Ai WeiWei was an all-rounder artist who loved showing people his style of arts despite his age and the location.
Work Cited
Eddy, Melissa. Ai Weiwei Embraces the Political. International arts exhibitions, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/arts/international/ai-weiwei-embraces-the-political.html.
FINKEL, JORI. Art Man of Alcatraz. NewYork Times Gazzette, SEPT. 18, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/arts/design/ai-weiwei-takes-his-work-to-a-prison.html.
TripLecnickel. Ai Weiwei does Gangnam Style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n281GWfT1E8, Oct 25, 2012. http://FonCasino.com.
