Copyright © 2011 by Aaron Martin-Colby
Ai Weiwei is an artist of international stature. Ai began blogging and tweeting about his life in China in 2006. "He is a leading figure on the international art scene, a regular in museums and biennials, but in China he is a manifold and controversial presence: artist, architect, curator, social critic, justice-seeker. . . Ai Weiwei's Blog documents Ai's passion, his genius, his hubris, his righteous anger, and his vision for China." [CRED]
What fascinates me most about him is his embrace of social media. Ai believes that social media outlets (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Blogs, etc.) are powerful tools to be leveraged by Chinese youth in order to demand social change and the most basic of freedoms, that of expression. His emphasis on youth and their ability to do so, is not at all new (think Mao and the Red Guards) but for Ai, the Revolution is not that of the party, but the Jasmine Revolution.
//The Great Fire Wall of China//The Great Fire Sale of these United States//
In the United States we take the internet for granted, detest it even. We question its sinister side – its "big brother" capacity to track its users unknowingly. We are skeptical and paranoid (and perhaps justly so) of the sale of our personal data, compiled by websites/applications, to third parties. It strikes me as an interesting paradox.
On June 1, 2009 Ai's blog was shut down. And on April 3, 2011 Ai was arrested as he attempted to leave Beijing for Hong Kong.
What is it that stirs the individual to test the bounds of artistic expression within society? What is it that leads the artist to commit acts that might lead to censure, oppression, imprisonment at the hands of governmental institutions? For Ai it appears to be a question of the most elemental of freedoms – the freedom of speech.
Images of Ai Weiwei and his work:
Images of Ai Weiwei and his work:
Tiananmen Square, 2009, 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests.
Zodiac Heads & Nudes, 2011.
Birds Nest, Beijing National Stadium, Summer Olympics, 2008.
Ai was commissioned as the artistic consultant for its design, in collaboration with Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron.
Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo, 1994.
10" by 11" by 11"
Forever Bicycles, Installation, 2009. Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Anndell
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