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If you haven't heard of who Ai Weiwei is yet, you're doing something wrong. But don't worry; we've got your back. Ai Weiwei is a contemporary Chinese artist and dissident. All of Weiwei's work makes political statements about China and it's government. Which gets very complicated when your country doesn't believe in freedom of speech or expression.
In 2012, you could say Weiwei got a lot more 'main stream'. Weiwei made a parody of the extremely popular "Gangnam Style" by PSY wearing handcuffs to make a commentary (check out his parody here). The Chinese government wasn't too fond of Weiwei's Gangnam Style and removed it from the Internet. To show support of him sculptor Anish Kapoor gathered numerous artists and remade the video and called it "Gangnam for Freedom" to support Weiwei (watch this version here). This collaboration of the art world was very popular.
Weiwei doesn't let up against the Chinese government, and he has so much international support feuling his ambition. He continually pushes the limits in everyway to educate his people and the world about what's actually happening in China. He's even been arrested for his constant advocacy. Have you ever met one of those people who can do everything well? Ai Weiwei is one of those people in a nutshell. Not only is he an extremely powerful and promiment artist, he knows how to cut hair, make heavy metal music, and dance. Weiwei truly doesn't let anything get in the way of being a strong international presence and having art exhibits all over the world, and considering he's stuck in China that's a really big deal. If his containment in China leaves you asking What Has Ai Weiwei Done in 2013? then read on and learn about the art world's biggest political advocate.
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He Shared "Stacked" Installation of 760 Bicycles at Galleria Continua
He Shared Stacked Installation of 760 Bicycles at "Galleria Continua"
Date: 10/27/2012 - 02/16/2013
This was Weiwei's first exhibition in the Galleria Continua, the gallery is well known for being one of the most influential contemporary galleries. It has three locations; this exhibit took place at the San Gimignano gallery space in Italy. This massive structure has 760 bicycles stacked on a labyrinth structure. It allows viewers to walk through a maze of stacked bikes. Weiwei is one of China's most controversial artists and his work usually comments on Chinese society. In this piece he is critiquing the mass manufacturing of the "Forever bicycles" made by one of China's largest manufacturers. All 760 of the bicycles are separated from their function because they cannot be ridden as bikes anymore; they have missing pieces and are attached to each other. The installation can be seen as a metaphor for China's labor force and their mass production.
He Collaborated with Eric So on a Sculpture Series
He Collaborated with Eric So on a Sculpture Series
Date: 1/24/2013 - 1/27/2013
Last year, Weiwei had a nude piece that the Chinese government banned and called 'pornography'. This year he made this rubber collaboration with Eric So, a toy designer based in Hong Kong, in reaction to those events. This piece is titled Aibodao which translates to unloveable in Chinese. These rubber sculptures, that are ironically quite loveable, displayed at Art Stage Singapore for the Singapore Museum of Art and Design's booth.
A Play About Ai Weiwei's Is Announced, Too Soon?
A Play About Ai Weiwei's Is Announced, Too Soon?
Date: 4/11/2013 - 5/18/2013
Early in April of 2011 Weiwei was arrested while boarding a flight to Hong Kong, as part of a government crackdown on activists. Two years later Weiwei deubuted his play "#aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei" at the Hampstead Theatre in London. He was one of the most high profile activists to be detained and was released about two months after his arrest, but until now the story of what happened in those two months had remained untold.
He Was Photographed for AnOther Magazine by Jamie Hawkesworth
He Was Photographed for AnOther Magazine by Jamie Hawkesworth
Date: 2/14/2013
Ai Weiwei is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic artists and activists. We love whenever one of the rare opportunities to find out more about his life arises. In February of this year Jamie Hawkesworth photographed Weiwei and his studio. The images are captivating and warm. This series is rare because it is very direct as to the condition artist is currently facing; the pictures depict policemen outside of his home and his unhappy stature. He is currently not allowed to leave China.
He Announced That He'd Be Designing an Album Cover for Secret 7"
He Announced That He'd Be Designing an Album Cover for Secret 7"
Date: 4/13/2013 - 4/14/2013
Secret 7" is a cool collaborative charity that got 700 artists to create 7" sleeves for singles made by popular brands. They had a two day exhibition of the sleeves and then sold them all for charity. Ai Weiwei designed a piece for this charity. Check out their website here. The event was sponsored by Universal Music, and also featured the prominent artist duo Gilbert & George.
He Announced That He'd Be Building a 1,000-Tent Installation for the Emscherkunst Triennial Art Festival
He Announced That He'd Be Building a 1,000-Tent Installation for the Emscherkunst Triennial Art Festival
Date: 6/22/2013 - 10/6/2013
Weiwei has a piece called Aus der Aufklärung at the Emscherkunst Triennial art festival. The title of the piece means out of enlightenment and features 1,000 tents along the Emscher River. Visitors can rent the tents overnight to experience the exhibit. Every tent is unique and is made to host about two or three people. This piece aims to contemplate freedom of speech and the lack their of in China by removing the distance between viewers and art. We highly suggest checking this installation out if you're passing through Germany before October.
He Was Filmed Giving Someone a Haircut
He Was Filmed Giving Someone a Haircut
Date: 5/8/2013
The question is 'Is there anything Ai Weiwei can't do?' If dancing Gangnam Style, making art, and being a world renound political activist wasn't enough; Weiwei is now giving haircuts as well. Weiwei claims that he's given hundreds of haircuts back in his day, don't believe us? Check out his instagram he posts it himself!
His Film of a Fight in Beijing Went Viral
His Film of a Fight in Beijing Went Viral
Date: 5/12/2013
Ai Weiwei was on his way to A Mother's Day lunch this year when he saw a fight break out. He videotaped it and it went viral immediately. The fight was between Tibetan street vendors and the ethnic Han group, the majority group in China. This ethnic clash was a result of the ongoing tensions between China and Tibet. See the full video covered by BBC here. Weiwei stated that he " had arrived in the middle of the fight... [and] saw someone lying on the ground with blood."
He Shared His "Baby Formula 2013" Installation at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong
He Shared His "Baby Formula 2013" Installation at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong
Date: 5/17/2013 - 5/26/2013
Remember the horsemeat controversy? Imagine that but so much worse, well that's what happened with China's Baby Formula. In 2008, baby milk powder in China was tainted with a chemical, melamine, which was added to make the milk seem like it was higher in content. Over 300,000 Chinese babies got sick from the chemical and 6 even died. Weiwei's reaction to this catastrophe was this baby milk sculpture. Obviously after this incident Weiwei had something to say about food safety. The installation is made of 1,815 full cans of baby formula in the shape of China itself.
He Released His First Song, the Heavy Metal "Dumbass"
He Released His First Song, the Heavy Metal "Dumbass"
Date: 5/21/2013
Earlier this year we thought Weiwei was pushing the limits of his versatility by being a barber. He blew those limits up, in the best possible way by releasing a heavy metal song "Dumbass". Heavy Metal is known for being a genre that expresses a lot of anger, which is exactly what Weiwei uses it to do. Check out the music video here. The music video is chock full of political scenes, but we expected nothing less from Weiwei. The video includes a very bold scene where Ai Weiwei's son shaves his head. This is most certainly one of his most controversial works to date.
He Shared His S.A.C.R.E.D. Installation
He Shared His S.A.C.R.E.D. Installation
Date: 6/2/2013
This installation was a teaser to his play that was to come later in the year, "#aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei" at the Hampstead Theatre in London. It was made up of dioramas that are enclosed in 2 ½-ton iron boxes depicting the scenes that he experienced in captivity. Some of the scenes include Weiwei sleeping, eating, showering, undergoing interrogation, and using the restroom. This project occurred in Venice at the Zuecca Project Space in conjuncture with the 2013 Venice Biennale, but it is not officially in the Biennale.
He Shared New Works for the Venice Biennale 2013
He Shared New Works for the Venice Biennale 2013
Date: 5/29/2013 - 11/24/2013
At this point you must be wondering, “If the dioramas weren't in the 2013 Venice Biennale what was?” Weiwei actually had two different works in the Biennale. The first was an 150-Ton Installation for Kids Who Died in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. The death toll of that earthquake due to unstable buildings that contained the area's schools was around 5,000 kids. This piece entitled Straight was made up of 150 tons of steel rebar that the artist collected from the affected area of the tragic earthquake. In order to right the wrong that had happened, he straightened the steel to look new. This installation definitely did not help his case with the Chinese government.
The other work, titled Bang, was similar to the Stacked Installation of 760 Bicycles we saw earlier but with 886 stools. For Weiwei these stools represent his Chinese Heritage because they are made in traditional Chinese workmanship the way they were before the domination of metals and plastic in manufacturing. Wewei literally stole attention at the Biennale this year, and stood up for what he believed in.
He Illustrated TIME Magazine's China-Themed Issue
He Illustrated TIME Magazine's China-Themed Issue
Date: 6/17/2013
The Time Magazine cover for a week in June was extra special this year. Hannah Beech wrote the cover story about Chinese influence in the global economy past, present and future. For the cover image the Magazine asked Weiwei to design it! Of course he was going to make it extraordinary, Weiwei used traditional Chinese paper cutting techniques to make the amazing red and white seemingly three-dimensional image. Even TIME Managing Editor Rick Stengel was blown away by the "artistic supremacy" of the work.
His Sculpture Series "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" Comes to the Art Gallery of Ontario
His Sculpture Series "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" Comes to the Art Gallery of Ontario
Date: 6/18/2013
As a precursor to Ai Weiwei's show at the Art Gallery of Ontario, "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" the artist revealed a series of 12 bronze animal heads outside of Toronto's City Hall. The work, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is a reference to 12 Chinese sculptures in the form of the Chinese Zodiac that was shipped abroad to Europe during the mid-19th century. The work is a commentary on the dissolution of Chinese identity because of foreign involvement as well as the exploitation of Chinese-ness by other countries.
He Released the "Laoma Tihua" Music Video
He Released the "Laoma Tihua" Music Video
Date: 6/20/2013
A month after releasing "Dumbass," Ai Weiwei continued to good on his promise to release a metal album with a contentious music video for his single, "Laoma Tihua." The video, which looked more like a documentary than a music video, showed footage captured on cellphone cameras of Ai Weiwei's interactions with Chinese authorities. The unflattering (to put it lightly) images of the Chinese police are juxtaposed with surreal, nightmarish sequences like a swarm of insects crawling out of a toilet bowl. Aligning these two visual themes (real and surreal), Ai Weiwei blurs the line between these states, showing that reality in contemporary China is terrifyingly surreal.
He Released His Heavy Metal Album Titled The Divine Comedy
He Released His Heavy Metal Album Titled The Divine Comedy
Date: 6/22/2013
After releasing his first single "Dumbass" and the music video for his song "Laoma Tihua" earlier this summer, on the second anniversary of his 81-day secret imprisonment in China, Ai Weiwei finally released his heavy metal album "The Divine Comedy." The album speaks out against the authorities that locked him up. Made up of six songs, it criticizes the injustice, censorship, and corruption in China. Ai Weiwei’s friend Zuoxiao Zuzhou produced “Divine Comedy”. Its title parallels Dante's Circles of Hell with the current state of Ai Weiwei's home country. In the song "Chaoyang Park," Ai Weiwei sings the dark lyrics, "Are you still following me? I won't do it any more. Tell me, what's your name? Beat me and I won't tell."
