Ai Weiwei: Irreverent Recycling and Artistic Activism
Presentation Type
Poster/Portfolio
Presenter Major(s)
Art History
Mentor Information
Sigrid Danielson
Department
Art and Design
Location
Kirkhof Center KC 83
Start Date
11-4-2012 9:00 AM
Keywords
Arts
Abstract
This paper discusses how artist and activist Ai Weiwei employs appropriation in his sculptural oeuvre to critique postmodern culture and politics in China. Specifically I explore how Ai's recycling of ancient materials and motifs displays a unique form of détournement. In both his Coca-Cola Vase series and his reconstructions of Ming dynasty furniture, Ai transforms China's material history into a found object, subverting its past meaning. In both Sunflower Seeds and Zodiac Heads: Circle of Animals, Ai plays with the tension between original and copy, appearance and reality. Each of these works displays Ai's experimentation with redefining society's left-overs. While Ai has gained media attention as an activist, this paper argues that Ai's art is central to that role and not a neutral by-product of his dissent. Through his poetic yet provocative sculptures, Ai confronts the injustices he perceives in his own society and creates a new form of appropriation for the postmodern art world.
Ai Weiwei: Irreverent Recycling and Artistic Activism
Kirkhof Center KC 83
This paper discusses how artist and activist Ai Weiwei employs appropriation in his sculptural oeuvre to critique postmodern culture and politics in China. Specifically I explore how Ai's recycling of ancient materials and motifs displays a unique form of détournement. In both his Coca-Cola Vase series and his reconstructions of Ming dynasty furniture, Ai transforms China's material history into a found object, subverting its past meaning. In both Sunflower Seeds and Zodiac Heads: Circle of Animals, Ai plays with the tension between original and copy, appearance and reality. Each of these works displays Ai's experimentation with redefining society's left-overs. While Ai has gained media attention as an activist, this paper argues that Ai's art is central to that role and not a neutral by-product of his dissent. Through his poetic yet provocative sculptures, Ai confronts the injustices he perceives in his own society and creates a new form of appropriation for the postmodern art world.