Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei Speaks Through Art On the 19th of September of 2015, the Royal Academy of Arts Gallery in London (RA) launched an exhibition that showcased the works of renowned artist and political activist, Ai Weiwei. Ai Weiwei represents a generation of free thinking individuals in China who actively speak out against government corruption, censorship and limitation of rights. A large body of Ai’s works were produced in Beijing around 1993, some of which have been brought for the exhibition at the RA. Ai worked alongside Tim Marlow, the artistic director of the RA, to curate this exhibition. This exhibition was a way for Ai to challenge preexisting notions that the West currently has of China and its justice system. In doing so, Ai has made
From the wall text, it was explained that marble is attributed to a certain class of people, ones with status. The works made using marble were more personal than the ones seen before in the exhibition. One of the marble sculptures, Surveillance Camera (2010) (Fig. 3), depicted a video camera, which was a tool that was used by the government to spy of Ai. Another sculpture in the room titled Mask, depicted a gas mask. This was most likely to represent the pollution in China. These works are quite interesting as they contrast the beauty of the material with the danger from the object. Other materials Ai used for his art include rosewood, Huali, crystal and tea. The way these materials were treated has a very psychological tone associated with them. These different mediums were manipulated to conform to one similar structure. This act of compressing and shaping objects can be compared to what the Chinese government does with their
The first is called S.A.C.R.E.D. (2012) (Fig. 4), which included six dioramas depicting his experience of being imprisoned in the year 2011. These scenes were extremely detailed and showed an accurate representation of Ai’s experience. It was highly interactive as the viewers needed to look through the windows of each diorama to see a scene that had occurred during his time in the cell. The room in which this work was displayed, was large enough and perfectly accommodated for the work. Additionally, the wallpaper in the room reflected the power of social media and Ai’s experience with it. The motif of the surveillance camera was used again to represent the idea of restriction and suppression. This was well paired with S.A.C.R.E.D., as both works connect to the issue of censorship and a lack of human