No contemporary artist speaks louder on those themes than the Chinese dissident/artist, Ai Wei Wei. Although he is currently on house arrest in his studio in Bejing, an exhibition of his work Ai Wei Wei: According to What? is on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario. This is the only showing of his work in Canada and includes not only video, photographs and large-scale installations, but a strong sense of his philosophy and position on life and human rights.
There are structures which reflect his veneration for Chinese tradition as he utilizes wood from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) from destroyed hutongs and temples.
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| Map of China 2008 |
Ai Wei Wei also uses traditional wood working techniques in creating some of his installations -in which no nails are used.
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| Untitled 2006 |
Three thousand porcelain crabs were created and painted as a protest piece displayed on the floor. It represents the restriction of free speech in Chinese society. As the government was about to demolish his newly constructed studio in Shanghai, Ai invited guests to a feast of 10,000 river crabs in protest. He, however had been placed under house arrest and couldn't be there.
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| He Xie 2010 |
Ai Wei Wei was very affected by the earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008. For me, the most memorable and significant work was related to that disaster. Wenchauan Steel Rebar uses metal rebars, recovered from the rubble of schoolhouses which he straightened and placed in a formation, which indicates society's ability to start fresh, but is also reminiscent of the undulations of the earth during the quake. It is place in front of a printed list of over 5000 of the lost children's names.
The exhibition as a whole is very moving.
