Art is to be shared… Love
is about sharing; also, hate is about sharing. (Ai, 2013)
I caught the AGO’s exhibit “Ai Weiwei, According to What?” on
its last day and I am glad I did. What an experience!
I knew nothing about the artist or his art. The “Snake Ceiling”
(http://www.ago.net/ai-weiweis-snake-ceiling)
- which was installed in advance to the inauguration of the exhibit - caught my
eye during one of my visits to the AGO. I read the propaganda on the wall
beside it and decided this is something I would love to see. Not easy for me, since
I live one-and-a-half hours away from Toronto.
My friend Demetra Saldaris, who also wanted to visit the
exhibition, was kind enough to get us the last tickets available on the last
day of the exhibit. I am not joking, we made just in time.
Strolling around the rooms holding Ai’s works with Demetra was a delight; her intelligent conversation is always refreshing.
The works themselves are inspiring.
Some pieces:
Forever (2003), a group
of bicycles arranged to form a circle. By removing one of the wheels in each
bike, Ai couples each to the next one; thus, locking them together and making
each part of the next in this non-finite ring. Therefore, these ordinary objects
arranged in a circle, symbol of eternity, are elevated, and their vital
importance in Chinese society once-upon-a-time is acknowledged. The brand name
of the Chinese bicycle is also “Forever”; the obsolescence of both the factory and its product as a means of transportation today is shown
by removing the pedals from all the bikes, I imagine. For obvious
reasons, the assemblage reminded me of the great film Beijing Bicycle (2001) directed by Xiaoshuai Wang.
Straight (2008-12) takes the form of a rusted ‘meadow’ created with the steel rods – 38 tons of them according to
the information label – smuggled one by one from the rubble of a school
destroyed during the Sichuan earthquake
in 2008. Each rod was straightened and placed (Foran, 2013) to create the breathtaking
and, at the same time, peaceful memorial.
In a related work, Ai presents a room wall covered by what seem to be large sheets of
paper with an endless list of names, each with a date next to it; in the area near
this wall, one can hear the reciting of each name, and the date beside it, Demetra
suggested. Afterwards, I learnt that this list contains the names of more than 5,000
children who died in the Sichuan earthquake. With this piece, Ai denounces, again,
the widespread irresponsibility and corruption in construction in China. (Xue, 2013) I see it, also, as a
memorial, since the names of the victims weren't released, and the tragedy of the
collapse of the school buildings was downplayed by the Chinese authorities. (Branigan, 2009)
Straight and the Wall of Names reminded me of and exhibit in
the Museo de la Nación (Lima, Peru) called Yuyanapaq. Para recordar. Yuyanapaq (To
remember in Quechua) is a photographic record of the 20 years of armed conflict
in Peru. (Museo de la Nación) I visited the
exhibition with my niece, Natalia Consiglieri, a few years ago. At the time,
Natalia was researching her thesis on the memory and perception of the afore mentioned visual record; especially, the memory and perception of students in their first and
second year of university. (Consiglieri, N. 2012)
Although the many rooms in the exhibit contained gruesome images, the next to last room of Yuyanapaq is the one that impacted
me the most. It contained blown-up ID pictures of the disappeared with their names, and dates of birth and disappearance. As I entered the room, I could hear a
persistent and unintelligible humming that became a clear discourse upon approaching
a photograph; then, and only then, I could hear a voice stating the full name,
date of birth and disappearance of the person in the picture. The narrator,
evidently a family member, continued with an excruciating recount of the facts surrounding the disappearance of his or her relative; or, at least, what is known about them. I could only listen to a couple of testimonies
before I had to choke some tears back. I could see Natalia was going through the
same. Definitely, I could connect with Straight and the Wall of Names in the same manner I did with Yuyanapaq in the past.
To continue with Ai's work, his photography is striking for its irreverence, shown in the
series of world monuments with the ‘finger wave’ in front; and its bluntness to depict
the contradictions in Chinese society, portrayed in the juxtaposition of a desolate construction
wreckage and Beijing’s National Stadium (2003-08), for instance.
As I remarked, Ai’s work is inspiring - the exhibit was
inspiring; however, I could not help but leave the AGO feeling like a little snail.
A snail existing in a world were human beings akin to Ai Weiwei struggle to
make a difference overcoming what many would consider insurmountable obstacles.
What a talent and what a determination to confront injustice
and abuse through his work!
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Bibliography
Ai, W. (2013,
September 5). AGO First Thursdays. (M. Teitebaum, Interviewer)
Foran, C. (2013).
Ai Weiwei According to what, Audio tour. Retrieved from AGO Art
Gallery of Ontario - Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario:
Xue, S. (2013). Ai
Weiwei: According to What? Audio Tour. Retrieved from AGO Art Gallery of
Ontario - Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario:
