Ai Weiwei: More Than Just an Artist
From the Sichuan earthquake To art and twitter: Ai Weiwei, more than just an artist
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Table of Contents Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake ...................................................................... 3 Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools ............................................................................ 3
“Remembering” ................................................................................................................... 4 Twitter .................................................................................................................................. 4
Going Local to Global .................................................................................................. 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 5
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Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake
On the 12th may 2008 in the Sichuan province, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 8 on Richter’s scale occurs during the afternoon (Fawu Wang, 2009). According to an official report, 69’197 people were killed, 374’176 injured and 4.8 Million were left homeless. Although earthquake predictions remain in a certain way always random, a scientist named Chen Xuezhong brought in 2002 evidence of a potential coming earthquake in the region (Zhiyue, 2010). It stresses that China’s government was warned of a potential coming disaster. After this short introduction, this essay will focus on the repercussions of this incident, in China as well as internationally, emphasised by Ai Weiwei’s actions through, on one hand art and on the other Internet, respectively twitter.
Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools
The Sichuan earthquake raised strong criticism against the Chinese government, especially because of the huge number of victims among children. According to a construction engineer who published the Chinese book “Book
1
Table of Contents Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake ...................................................................... 3 Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools ............................................................................ 3
“Remembering” ................................................................................................................... 4 Twitter .................................................................................................................................. 4
Going Local to Global .................................................................................................. 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 5
2
Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake
On the 12th may 2008 in the Sichuan province, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 8 on Richter’s scale occurs during the afternoon (Fawu Wang, 2009). According to an official report, 69’197 people were killed, 374’176 injured and 4.8 Million were left homeless. Although earthquake predictions remain in a certain way always random, a scientist named Chen Xuezhong brought in 2002 evidence of a potential coming earthquake in the region (Zhiyue, 2010). It stresses that China’s government was warned of a potential coming disaster. After this short introduction, this essay will focus on the repercussions of this incident, in China as well as internationally, emphasised by Ai Weiwei’s actions through, on one hand art and on the other Internet, respectively twitter.
Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools
The Sichuan earthquake raised strong criticism against the Chinese government, especially because of the huge number of victims among children. According to a construction engineer who published the Chinese book “Book