Miami artist Maxmio Caminero was outraged by the fact that the Perez Art Museumchose to put on a show with international artist Ai Weiwei instead of supporting local artists. In fact, he was so shaken by the injustice of the museum's decision, that he decided to smash one of Ai Weiwei's painted Han Dynasty vases right in the middle of the exhibition "Ai Weiwei: According to What."
His act was a form of protest, something we would expect a dissent artist like Ai Weiwei to sympathize with. "I saw it as a provocation by Weiwei to join him in an act of performance protest," Caminero told the New Times.
The Chinese artist, however, was less than pleased with this type of performance art. “The work I work on [does] not belong to a museum or other people’s property," Ai Weiwei told BBC. "I never tried to destroy a museum piece. Those vases belong to me. He can drop whatever he likes to drop but not other people’s property.”
In the video above, Caminero is seen dropping one of Ai Weiwei's vases on the gallery floor. While the video looks like it was captured by a visitor with a camera phone at the Perez Art Museum, some are skeptical that this is a real record of the crime. The precious works are worth $1 million, and perpetrator is facing charges for his act of protest.
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