Ai Weiwei Films and Works

Ai Weiwei Films and other Works
What is he doing, and why, how does art create change, dissent,
communication, freedom?
FILMS watched in class:

1. VIMEO -- Ai Weiwei Never Sorry official trailer (2:29)
http://vimeo.com/18018860
2. Frontline PBS: Whos Afraid of Ai Weiwei? 17:22 (good introduction,
more details) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ai-wei-wei/
3. BBC: Ai Weiwei, Without Fear or Favor (50:58) important
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gcRodOfu_s8&NR=1&feature=endscreen
Intro, policing of him; earthquake; ceramics, creation/destruction (old
world/new world of Cultural Revolution); how he grew up, his
fathers/familys exile; how artists could only function as propagandists
for 30 years; life in NY (Marcel Duchamps influence); political reform in
China 1989 and Tiananmen Square; his 3 underground books in 1990s;
sets up Beijing studio; urns and old things; turn of century art; Birds
Nest; ceramic town and Sunflower Seeds/Tate
Time permitting
4. Ai Weiwei detained. Here is his TED film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MVnH8ou3Kd4&NR=1&feature=endscreen (11:38)
For your In-Class Short Essay assignment (in addition to

Chapter Four):
ARTWORKS (1-8): PICK THREE OF THE FOLLOWING NINE AND STUDY
CAREFULLY.
Take notes and be prepared to describe them in detail (concepts as
well as materials).
1. Sunflower Seeds
Be able to discuss the last 20 or so minutes of the BBC film, Without Fear
or Favor, which describes not only technically how his Sunflower Seeds
were made and by who, but ideologically why Ai Weiwei decided to do
things the way he did. What do the seeds represent? Who made them and
what did that mean to Ai Weiwei? What about politics, propaganda?
o
o
REQUIRED READING: http://www.aiweiweiseeds.com/about-aiweiweis-sunflower-seeds

Also watch: At the Tate Modern, London, Turbine Gallery (2010):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td3_EKX1Igo (4:12)
2. London Exhibits on Vimeo (three videos of some of his work presented in

London in recent years):
o
o
o
Tate Shots https://vimeo.com/17404865 (4:50) -- Exhibit

focusses on the 10,000 photographs he took in the States as a
young man Describe
London Exhibitions https://vimeo.com/33935198 (5:19) -Zodiac Heads (Ai Weiwei was in detention during this
exhibition) Describe
Various Works http://vimeo.com/23863659 (3:59) Lisson Gallery
present a major survey show of work (sculpture and ceramics)
Describe
3. Fairytale, 2007 ($4.2 million) Be able to describe in detail what the project was
about, who was involved, Ai Weiweis ideas about it, Template, etc., both from the
Vimeo video and the article below:
o Intro video: http://vimeo.com/68202707 (4:20)
o Article describing:
http://translatingpracticesblog.blogspot.ca/2010/06/httpcuids.html
4. Ceramic Works You must be able to discuss describe in detail and discuss
the meanings behind BOTH his Dropping the Urn series AND his vases
(colored vases, Coca-Cola vases, etc.):
TWO Short VIDEOS:

1) Watch complete video: http://vimeo.com/64886243 (2:22)
2) Watch from 2:30 to 3:20: http://vimeo.com/23863659
FOUR SHORT ARTICLES:
1)
http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/70/AiWeiweiDroppingTheUrnCeramicWorks5000BCE
2010CE
2) http://dailyserving.com/2010/07/ai-weiwei-dropping-the-urn/
3) https://artsation.com/en/artists/ai-weiwei
4) [Also watch video in this article] Artist Smashes Ai Weiwei Colored Vase:
http://hyperallergic.com/109783/artist-smashes-ai-weiwei-vase-to-protest-museumssnub-of-local-artists/
5. Ai Weiweis responses to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008:

You must be able to explain the situation, what happened and why it
concerned Ai Weiwei, and what he did about it, socially, politically, and
artistically
REVIEW FILMS
o
(required) the parts of the films watched in

class that have to do with the earthquake, Frontline PBS: Whos
Afraid of Ai Weiwei? and BBC: Ai Weiwei, Without Fear or Favor
Online memorials: Be able to name and describe at least THREE
ways the dead children were honored online and/or from an
internet-generated source
How else did Ai Weiwei honor them what other artwork(s?)
[Describe at least two other physical pieces, in addition to the online
memorials]
6. Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne (115 slides of his works, an overview)

http://www.galerieursmeile.com/artists/artists/aiweiwei//work.html#a1252
o How many media, genres, has Ai Weiwei worked with?
o Give several examples from each category and describe (click
on individual slides)
7. Beijing National Stadium Birds Nest, 2008
If you are sports-inclined or otherwise interested and want to know more, look it up.
This is a lot of info on the net about the Stadium.
Minimum required reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_National_Stadium (read up TO PostOlympics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_bird%27s_nest (all)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/sports/olympics/29beijing.html?
pagewanted=all&_r (all)
8. S.A.C.R.E.D. (2013) Be able to describe the works in detail, as well as other points made in
the articles. The following are required viewing/reading:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130822-ai-weiwei-life-inside
(introductory video)
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/05/26/arts/design/AI-3.html (close
ups)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/arts/design/ai-weiwei-dioramas-depicthis-imprisonment.html?pagewanted=all (article in the NY Times)
http://www.wired.com/2013/06/ai-weiweis-self-referential-work-invenice/#slideid-424316
[One of the conditions of his release was that he never speaks about the details of
his incarceration. Thus this series of sculptures had to be done in secret over a
period of two years.]
9. @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz (2014-15) Be able to describe the work in

detail, the Lego controversy, the importance of Alcatraz, the political nature of the
work, etc.
The following are required viewing/reading (a little extra reading, a little extra credit
for this one!):
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/24/ai-weiwei-alcatrazlego-extraordinary
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/weiwei-lego-fan-bricks-1.3296141
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-chinesedissident-artist-ai-weiwei-alcatraz-20140924-htmlstory.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/arts/design/ai-weiwei-takes-his-work-toa-prison.html?_r=0#

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Ai Weiwei Films and other Works

FILMS watched in class:

For your In-Class Short Essay assignment (in addition to

REQUIRED READING: http://www.aiweiweiseeds.com/about-aiweiweis-sunflower-seeds

2. London Exhibits on Vimeo (three videos of some of his work presented in

Tate Shots https://vimeo.com/17404865 (4:50) -- Exhibit

TWO Short VIDEOS:

5. Ai Weiweis responses to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008:

(required) the parts of the films watched in

6. Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne (115 slides of his works, an overview)

9. @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz (2014-15) Be able to describe the work in

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