Artist and activist Ai Weiwei examines design, history and what humans value in his London exhibition Making Sense. design museum(opens in new tab).
The exhibition is a compilation of provocative and eclectic works created and collected by Chinese contemporary artists, including some of their most significant works. A reproduction of an Impressionist painting by Claude Monet, Water lily #1(opens in new tab)Ai’s rendition consists of 650,000 LEGO bricks in 22 colors. The artist specifically added personal details not present in the original. It is a black portal that symbolizes the entrance to a bunker in Xinjiang, China, where Ai and his father, the poet Ai Ching, were forced into exile from the 1960s until his 1976.
This is Ai’s biggest work in Lego, the medium the artist has. used to work together(opens in new tab)once connected to the company Controversial Rejection(opens in new tab) To approve the use of Lego in his political work to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.
Like much of Ai’s existing work, this exhibition is underpinned by political messages that are relevant not just to his home country of China, but to humanity as a whole. Widely known as a dissident artist, Ai has long questioned the contemporary world, pondering the links between history and modernity, freedom and fascism.his rave reviews Perspective study(opens in new tab) His work, which combines photography and graphic design, exemplifies this. These photos are of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the White House, and the Trump Tower. The museum’s principal curator, Justin McGurk, told reporters that with these things, “I reject the expectation that these institutions should be respected.”
Other works on display at the Design Museum include everyday objects such as take-out boxes, glass helmets and toilet paper rolls, treasured in precious materials such as glass, jade and porcelain. . His playful work encompasses larger themes of construction, destruction, and what society deems valuable.
Ai Weiwei: It makes sense(opens in new tab) It will be held at the Design Museum in London from April 7th to July 30th.
