Research Paper On Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is perhaps China’s most famous living artist, he is recognized as an advocate of universal human rights criticizing the Chinese government's infringement on civil liberties making him notorious to the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC has responded to Ai’s political advocacy through his art since 2008, in particular concerning Ai’s fight for the freedom of speech. Reacting to injustices he encountered with the PRC, Ai was tortured because of his statements, and convicted for his solidarity with other human rights activists. To the PRC Ai Weiwei might be paranoid and uncooperative lunatic but to me Ai is an outstanding maverick artist who exemplifies the power art on society.

An earthquake thundered in Sichuan seven years

He took photographs and videos of the ruined towns. Most poignantly, he collected hundreds of knapsacks, which had been left strewn in the rubble. The knapsacks belonged to the children whose deaths inspired Ai to change his world through relentless attempts to make the Chinese government more transparent and accountable. A year after the earthquake, in his retrospective show So Sorry (October 2009 to January 2010, Munich, Germany), Ai made a spectacular piece “Remembering,” to honor the deceased man, women and children. “Remembering” was an enormous installation that covered a significant part of the exterior of the Haus der Kunst. It was constructed from nine thousand children's backpacks spelling out “She lived happily for seven years in this world” in Chinese characters (quote from a mother whose child was victim to the

Ai's work re-imagines traditional Chinese symbols and materials, and his art raises universal questions about freedom of expression and human rights in an increasingly globalized world. In my eyes, Ai Weiwei’s work is provocative art. Ai completed the "Study in Perspective" series from 1995 to 2003 and captured his defiant middle finger in front of seats of political or cultural power in Paris, Washington DC, Berlin, Beijing and Hong Kong; Ai’s perspective is always through activism. When I see this series, I feel the same rush of defiance that Ai inspires, and it seems everyone after seeing these pictures, would extend also their middle finger. Ai’s gesture demonstrates a serious rebellion against the world’s supreme authority. He does not want to show his "disdain" or "hate" in any specific country or figures deliberately. I think this works can be treated as ambiguous political performance art. Ai Weiwei deliberately confronts social conditions in China and in the world: Through photographically documenting the historical architecture clear-cutting of Beijing in the name of progress for the white collar investor. This work gives a sense of the versatility of an artist whose role has been the stimulating, and mold-breaking from the