I read an article from NPR that was also on the radio. It was published May 1st. Tomorrow May 3rd marks the 1 month anniversary of Ai WeiWei being taken into custody by the Chinese government. No one has heard from him since he was taken and the government hasn’t released any information as to his whereabouts. Today, May 2nd, Ai WeiWei was supposed to be in New York to unveil his newest piece which is bronze heads of the Chinese zodiac. He was not there but it was still revealed to the world despite his unknown whereabouts. The story talks about his blog and how he published at least 5 posts a day and hundreds of pictures. It focused a lot on Ai WeiWei’s views of how Chinese culture is being destroyed and pushed aside and the beauty of the past is being thrown away and ignored. As his commentary on those views he took pictures of an expensive Chinese dynasty vase being dropped and shattered into pieces. Ai WeiWei is an activist and that is what makes his art work powerful. His releasing of the names of earthquake victims was not necessary beautiful art but the message behind it is what was groundbreaking as a piece of art work. Ai WeiWei knows he can get away with more than the average citizen which is what makes him want to fight harder because he knows he has to speak up more for all the voices that are silenced by the communist government of China.
No comments:
Post a Comment