Image via Complex Original
Beginning September 27, visitors to Alcatraz Island, located in the San Francisco Bay, will be able to see much more than the remains of a federal penitentiary that existed from 1934 to 1963. In addition to the former prison cells, visitors will be able to see the work of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, who has created seven site-specific installations in different parts of the island for the exhibition "@Large"—from the dining hall to Cell Block A and psychiatric observation cells.
Ai Weiwei, who has had his passport taken away by the Chinese government and could not travel to install the pieces himself, has used the opportunity of putting art on Alcatraz to examine human rights and freedom of expression. Having been unfairly jailed, censored, and silenced multiple times, Ai Weiwei broadens the conversation outside of his own experiences to articulate the plight of non-violent political detainees—175 of them, to be exact.
From Edward Snowden to Nelson Mandela, portraits of "prisoners of consciousness," as Weiwei calls them, appear in connected LEGO collages on the floor of the New Industries building (Trace), adjacent to a room with a giant, weaving Chinese "dragon kite" (With Wind). In addition to a sculptural, wing-like installation titled Refraction, which can only be viewed from a "gun gallery" corridor, there are sound installations in the A Block (Stay Tuned) and Hospital (Illumination and Blossom) areas of Alcatraz, porcelain sculptures in old sinks and toilets (Bloom), and finally, in the dining hall, an interactive portion titled Yours Truly, where visitors can write letters to some of the jailed prisoners depicted in Trace.
"@Large" effectively puts viewers in the position of a prisoner in a cell, a prison guard, a mentally ill prisoner, and a prisoner at work. By showing all the different angles of prison life, including where one would use the bathroom or eat, the installations powerfully comment on the state of human rights and the social implications of incarceration.
With Wind
Location: New Industries Building (Workplace of privileged prisoners)
In a building once used for prison labor, which maintains a weathered appearance, With Wind takes the form of a traditional Chinese “dragon kite,” weaving throughout the entry space. Made by Chinese artisans, similar to Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds piece from 2010, there are birds and flowers on the kites representing endangered species on the island of Alcatraz.
Additionally, the kite's restricted position in the building brings up the contradiction of freedom and restriction by referring to 30 nations with records of restricting their citizens' human rights and civil liberties. There are quotes by Le Quoc Quan, Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden, Ai Weiwei, and more, which require the viewer to walk in a curved path toward the Trace installation. Ai Weiwei told the New York Times that kites are also a memory from his childhood; he flew them with his father out of “collected string from all families nearby.”
Trace
Location: New Industries Building (Workplace of privileged prisoners)
While Ai Weiwei has used bricks in his practice for a long time, Trace is the first piece where he uses LEGOs. Inspired by his five-year-old son's “endless passion” for LEGOs, in addition to how easy they can be put together and taken apart, he created portraits of 175 individuals who have been imprisoned or exiled because of their beliefs, actions, or affiliations. With the help of two assistants who he sent from China, in addition to volunteers from San Francisco, the pieces were assembled according to Weiwei's blueprints and instructions. There are binders on podiums around the piece for viewers to learn about faces they may not be familiar with. In a way similar to With Wind, Trace depicts ugly truths using beautiful, colorful materials that are often connected with youth (kite and LEGOs).
Refraction
Location: New Industries Building (Workplace of privileged prisoners)
Refraction can only be viewed from a “gun gallery” corridor, where guards used to patrol the working prisoners, communicating with whistles to notify each other of conflict on the floor. The viewer must walk the length of the piece, which is modeled after a bird's wing, to see it in its entirety. In this way, you view the piece from the position of a prison guard, looking at a bird trapped in a metaphorical cage. Weiwei built the reflective panel pieces from Tibetan solar cookers, referencing the region of Tibet that has struggled under Chinese rule for decades. Similar to With Wind, the piece (which weighs five tons) uses flight imagery to discuss the tension between freedom and confinement.
Stay Tuned
Location: A Block
Stay Tuned is a sound piece in 12 invidual cells, which invites viewers to sit on a stool in each cell and listen to poetry, spoken word, and music by people who have gone to prison for creatively expressing their beliefs. From Martin Luther King's “Beyond Vietnam” speech to Pussy Riot's “Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away (Punk Prayer),” each is inspiring and powerfully felt when put in the position of a prisoner who would have resided in these cells.
Illumination
Location: Hospital (Psychiatric observation cells)
The Illumination sound installation allows viewers to stand in the psychiatric observation cells of Alcatraz's hospitals to experience the isolation of the mentally ill inmates. Since men from the Hopi tribe were some of the first prisoners at Alcatraz, Ai Weiwei chose to install chants which equally reference the spiritual, comforting role of the practice and its cultural significance to many subjugated peoples. The sound echoes in the rooms, giving off an eerie, chilling energy.
Blossom
Location: Hospital (Psychiatric observation cells)
Intricately-made ceramic flowers turn utilitarian fixtures into beautiful pieces. The pieces directly refer to China's Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956, a period where the Chinese government tolerated free expression before punishing dissent. Ai Weiwei also puts flowers in a bicycle basket outside of his studio, for every single day that he doesn't have a passport.
Yours Truly
Location: Dining Hall
Yours Truly ends “@Large” by allowing viewers to send postcards to some of the prisoners depicted in Trace. The postcards have flower and flight imagery, in the form of bird and plant photographs, along with the names and addresses of the prisons where these prisoners are being held. The specific birds and plants also represent the nations where specific prisoners are held. Ai Weiwei chose to create this installation out of his own experience in jail, where he felt deeply isolated and wondered if his cause had been forgotten. Yours Truly is a reminder to those we are able to send letters to that both them and their causes are not forgotten.