Dezeen. Chinese authorities demolish Ai Weiwei's studio in Beijing. Ai Weiwei's studio has been destroyed as part of a gentrification drive by the Beijing authorities aiww/Instagram Ai Weiwei’s largest studio in Beijing, located in an old German-designed car parts factory in the Zuoyou Arts District on the city’s periphery, was demolished at 2pm on Friday as part of a redevelopment of the area.
Ga Rang, Ai’s assistant who managed the facility, told AFP that the studio’s lease expired last year, but it "simply wasn't possible" to move out quickly given the amount of art and materials Ai kept there. Most other art spaces in the area had already been demolished. Ga said they were notified recently that they must be move within a few days, but not informed when the demolition would start.
"They came and started knocking down the windows today without telling us beforehand. The Zuoyou studio is the latest artistic casualty in Beijing’s ruthless gentrification and redevelopment campaign. “Farewell,” Ai bid on Instragram to Zuoyou. Ai Weiwei: China excluded its people from the Olympics. London is different | Art and design. Police stop the media from filming after a Pro-Tibet demo near the Beijing national stadium in August 2008. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian The Olympic Games are highly commercialised. They purport to follow the traditions of an ancient athletics competition, but today it is the commercial aspect that is most apparent.
I have seen how, through sport, cities and corporations compete against each other for financial gain. The Olympics are beholden to the wishes of various commercial operations, which in turn shape our understanding of the event and of the world. They are no longer connected to the idea that humanity can be expressed through athletics. In China, the Olympics have always served as a tool for propaganda. I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit.
My memory of the Beijing Olympics has not changed. I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I have no regrets about the role I played; the stadium is a work of great quality and design. Artlog - Olympics. Chinese Artist Ai Wei-wei Breaks Social Media Silence, Joins Google+ Chinese artist Ai Wei-wei has broken his recent social media silence after his lengthy detention and interrogation, and joined Google+, the new social network from Google . In his first post on G+ this afternoon, at 1:44pm local time, Ai Wei-wei said simply, “Greetings. I’m here!” He was quickly greeted with over 3,400 people adding him to their circles, and over 100 comments on his first G+ missive. Less than an hour later, Mr Ai posted a self-portrait photo to prove its authenticity. The number of established Chinese bloggers who are following him also proves it’s his genuine profile.
Ai Wei-wei has sneaked some cheeky humour into the ‘About’ section of his new G+ profile, describing himself as a “suspected pornography enthusiast and tax evader” – a reference to two of the many police charges leveled at him recently. During his worryingly long absence, a lot of international support was shown for Mr Ai, including a screening of an interview of his at TED. Ai Weiwei: New Communication | "Exclusive" | Art21. Why WeiWei? Chinese Artist Lets a Thousand Compatriots Loose on Kassel - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International. It's hard to make a splash in the art world these days. Bodily fluids, pornographic images, giant blocks of lard -- it's all been done already. But Chinese artist Ai WeiWei has found a way to get himself noticed at this year's Documenta, the prestigious art show which takes place every five years in Kassel. He's bringing 1,001 of his compatriots to the provincial German city to take part in an installation called "Fairytale.
" The 1,001 live "exhibits" began arriving in Kassel on Tuesday evening. The participants, who will live in a dormitory for the duration of the show, come from all social classes and include teachers, farmers, students, police officers, engineers and pensioners. The live exhibits will have no set program or commitments during their stay. Instead, they will be encouraged to visit the city's sights, interact with locals and examine other exhibits in the art show. Documenta 12 begins next Saturday in Kassel and runs until September 23. dgs/dpa/reuters Keep track of the news. News. Artnet News May 8, 2007 AI WEIWEI’S DOCUMENTA "FAIRYTALE" This summer, as a part of Documenta 12, June 16-Sept. 23, 2007, the Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei is mounting an incredible installation cum performance work -- he’s bringing 1,001 Chinese citizens to Kassel, the central German town where the prestigious international art show is mounted every five years.
Dubbed Fairytale -- the artist notes that Kassel was home to the Brothers Grimm from 1798 to 1830 -- the work is designed to allow the Chinese participants "to confront each other with their ordinary lives" while attending "one of the most important contemporary art events. " Volunteers were selected by Ai Weiwei with an open call on his blog, and are being brought to Kassel in groups of 200 for one week each, with their airfare and lodging paid for. While international travel is typically available to upper-class Chinese, Ai Weiwei’s group includes farmers, teachers, students, artists and engineers. --Lee Ambrozy contact. Amnesty Blogs: Countdown for China : Partial List of child victims (5212) during the 2008 Earthquake. Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego acquires work by Ai Weiwei, plans 24-hour protest | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times. The work of Ai Weiwei has become a hot commodity ever since the artist was imprisoned by Chinese officials in early April.
While China's government hasn't given an official reason for Ai's detainment, many believe that the artist is being held as retaliation against his activism in the realms of human rights and free speech. On Friday, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego announced that it has purchased two pieces from Ai's series titled "Marble Chair. " The museum said that the artist carved the yoke-back chairs out of single blocks of marble. Empty chairs are a recurring motif in Ai's work, and have taken on added resonance since his disappearance. The museum said it will hold a silent protest in support of Ai on Thursday at its downtown location. A spokeswoman said that the 24-hour protest will start 11 a.m. on Thursday and continue through 11 a.m. the next day. Volunteer participants will occupy two traditionally styled Chinese chairs for one-hour periods. -- David Ng. Ai Weiwei: Daring Chinese Artist. The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is a very brave man. Long before April 3, when he was taken into police custody by the Chinese authorities in Beijing as he attempted to board a flight for Hong Kong, he knew that his vigorous support for human rights in China put him on a collision course with the government.
He was badly beaten by the police in 2009, his blog was shut down that same year, and in 2010 his new studio in Shanghai was bulldozed by authorities. True, Ai may have imagined that his immense prestige in the international art world—he is regarded as the Chinese answer to Joseph Beuys, a post-Duchampian shaman with an Asian spin—would have provided him some protection. And for a time it did. Ai is a fire and ice personality. The ice is in the impossibly self-confident impresario who has become a hero of the global art world with his sometimes elegant, sometimes arrogant, sometimes frankly obnoxious appropriations and deconstructions of China’s cultural heritage.
Ai Wei Wei « Demusitecture. Recently came across this artist after a read of the interview Hans Ulrich Obrist in conversation with Ai Wei Wei in the book Ai Wei Wei published by Phaidon, 2009. Ai Wei Wei is a contemporary Chinese artist who has successfully established an artistic career both in America and China. He is also the one who provided Herzog and De Meuron with the inspiration for the bird nest Beijing Olympic stadium. What caught my eye after flicking through the book (it was on the new books display stand) was the image of this violin.
Violins are so pretty! Violin. 1985. shovel handle, violin. 63 x 23 x 7 cm. Reminds me of Duchamp’s ready-made, whom Ai Wei Wei was influenced by. There were several other works which I like including: The wave. 2005. Wonder how he sculpted the waves for them to fold over so perfectly.. Map of China. 2004. I like how a lot of his works have cultural significance, like this one. He’s also built some buildings, though never trained as an architect. Like this: Like Loading... Who's Afraid of Ai WeiWei? Graffiti Campaign Challenges Chinese Artist's Arrest. It’s now the second month since renowned artist Ai WeiWei was detained by Chinese authorities at the Beijing Airport, where he was to board a plane to Hong Kong. In the absence of any satisfactory information about the charges under which he is being held or his condition, his artwork is being unveiled in the West on schedule and Hong Kong artists have started a graffiti campaign asking “Who’s Afraid of Ai WeiWei?”
As the New York Times reports, an exhibition of new work opened at the Neugerriemschneider Gallery in Berlin last weekend (with a giant banner asking “Where is Ai WeiWei” at the front of the building). On Wednesday in New York, “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,” opened at the Pulitzer Fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel. The latter work is said to be Ai’s first public sculpture. The piece is comprised of a series of 12 heads of the creatures of the Chinese Zodiac, after which years are also named: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, boar. Ai Weiwei: Can an artist change society? In a video smuggled to a recent TED conference (which he was forbidden to attend) Chinese artist Ai Weiwei insisted, "Art is about social change. " Apparently, the potential for change spearheaded by China's most celebrated global art star troubles China's leaders. On April 3 authorities seized Mr. Ai, who disappeared into a news blackout illuminated only by vague allegations of "economic crimes.
" Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition Although a show of his art has been "indefinitely postponed" in the People's Republic of China, a public art piece by Ai, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," is on view at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue from May 4 to July 15. Ai, Ms. Considered iconic pieces of the nation's cultural heritage, their repatriation is a cause célèbre in China. Ai has been spurring people to look at cyberspace with unblinkered eyes ever since he began blogging in 2005. Review: Ai Weiwei @ Haines Gallery « Art Beat Bay Area.
Ai Weiwei's "Snake Bag" The Ai Weiwei show at Haines Gallery is important for many reasons, not all of which have to do with the specific work on view. Hailing from Beijing, Weiwei is at the forefront of the increasingly vibrant conversation the international art world is having about contemporary Asian art, especially that coming out of China. An activist and forceful critic of the Chinese government (he was beaten by the Chinese police last year and suffered life-threatening head injuries because of it), Weiwei’s art gives outsiders intimate insight into Chinese culture and current issues through the universal language of objects and concepts.
His work also resonates within Western art history. Obvious influences and references can be made to Marcel Duchamp, Félix González-Torres, and Andy Warhol, and even contemporaries, such as Jeff Koons. (Also worth noting, similar to other mega-artists, Weiwei employs loads of assistants to transform his vision into form.) Like this: The 2011 TIME 100 Poll Results - The 2011 TIME 100 Poll. Ai Weiwei’s New Blog.
It is just over a year since the Sichuan earthquake in southwestern China. The government has made it clear over and over since then that the crumpled schools and dead and injured students have nothing to do with shoddy construction. State agencies and the media, representing the authority and wisdom of the country, are trying to convince people that the earthquake was so strong that it was inevitable the schools would collapse and pupils die. Since it was fate, it seems, no one should be held responsible. Once again, the facts have been erased.
The Sichuan disaster is not the first, nor the most wrongful. I call on people to be “obsessed citizens”, forever questioning and asking for accountability. Ai Weiwei learned the art of protest on the L.E.S. Ai Weiwei back in his New York City days. Photo by Clayton Patterson BY CLAYTON PATTERSON | After watching the Ai Weiwei documentary, “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” I was somewhat surprised by the parallel between his journey and my own. Elsa and I moved to the Lower East Side in 1979 when the city was still a down-and-dirty place. In 1981 I had an art career moving forward in then-fashionable Soho, but I did not fit into that world. I dropped out of chasing the art career. My aesthetic compass pulled me toward the obscure, the outsider, the misfit, the underground and the working class. Instead of Warhol I connected with Boris Lurie and NO! In 1981 Ai Weiwei left Beijing and moved to the Lower East Side and stayed until 1993. My life as a political activist started a day or so after Aug. 7, 1988.
The reason I was at the park was to document the protest with my low-light Panasonic AG155 video camera. The handheld video camera had never been used in this way before. Next communication: Ai Weiwei. Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Pour les articles homonymes, voir Ai. Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (chinois : 艾未未), né le à Pékin, est un des artistes majeurs de la scène artistique indépendante chinoise, à la fois sculpteur, performer, photographe, architecte, commissaire d'exposition et blogueur.
Il est le fils du poète et intellectuel Ai Qing (1910-1996), et demi-frère du peintre Ai Xuan. Architecte, il a été conseiller artistique pour le cabinet d'architecture suisse Herzog & de Meuron lors de la réalisation du stade national de Pékin construit pour les Jeux olympiques d'été de 2008[1]. Il est l'un des 303 intellectuels chinois signataires de la Charte 08[2]. Ai Weiwei a été arrêté par la police le , officiellement pour évasion fiscale, et libéré sous caution le , après 81 jours d'enfermement dans un lieu inconnu et des conditions dégradantes, ce qui avait soulevé une vague d'indignation à travers le monde[4].
Biographie[modifier | modifier le code] Ai Weiwei, sur Wikimedia Commons.