Making sense of Ai Wei Wei
A single room show organised thematically, a room guide with non-chronological numbers and make your own cookie cutter for “all ages”, creates the impression that the artist, Ai Wei Wei is ridiculing his audience.
I spent the first 20 minutes using a digitally scanned gallery guide, (without the make your own cookie cutter at the entrance), then struggling to find an order to the exhibition, going back to get one of the rationed paper guides. Trying to fold the cookie cutter, failing, starting a new one, and then going back into the room. I whizzed round the exhibition moving from the series of photos of Ai painting a Han Dynasty pot, only noticing said Coca Cola branded Han Dynasty pot much later in the glass cabinet. Over the floor were separated groups of broken tea spouts, Song dynasty cannon balls, broken sherds, and neolithic instruments of war.
Ai Wei Wei’s approach to making art is alike to harvesting fields. An activity that does not require talent, but perseverance. He is continually gathering materials, manipulating them, and battling against all odds to produce a piece that covers a vast area and forms an impression.
The first section, "Memory," focuses on his early work and his exploration of Chinese history and culture. The second section, "Censorship," examines the challenges he has faced as an artist in China, including censorship and government surveillance. The third section, "Migration," explores his engagement with the global refugee crisis, while the fourth section, "Freedom of Expression," looks at his ongoing efforts to advocate for human rights and free speech.
Throughout the exhibition, visitors are confronted with powerful works that challenge their assumptions and push them to question their own beliefs. For example, the centerpiece of the exhibition is a towering sculpture made up of thousands of bicycles, which reflects Ai Weiwei's interest in the mass production of goods in China. Other works, such as "Straight," a massive installation made up of steel rods salvaged from buildings destroyed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, highlight Ai Weiwei's activism and commitment to social justice.
By far the most sensical work was the Lego Monet’s Waterlies. Lego, the Western baby, is a cultural experience for all generations, recently in the spotlight for having a ‘woke’ rebrand, promoting their products with “all shapes and sizes”. Ai Wei Wei’s clever endeavour with the Monet lego piece is a commercial piece that will generate good publicity, and likely appeal to the empty ballroom walls of a superyacht on the Med.
The exhibition runs until September 5th, 2023.
