Alison Klayman's Ai Weiwei Never Sorry is at the IFC until 8/2/12. Bart and I got a chance to see it today and it was just so eyeopening. It offers a glimpse into the artist's trajectory and the many appalling issues surrounding the Chinese political system that we don't typically take into consideration.
Other than Weiwei's
Sunflower Seeds installation which was displayed at Tate not too long ago, I didn't know any of his other work. One particularly impressive piece discussed in the film is the one pictured below. Inspired by a statement from a mother of one one
out of the thousands of children killed during the 2007 Sichuan earthquake, it says "She lived happily on this
earth for 7 years". Just as powerful in content is its form, which pieces together thousands of backpacks.
Since the Chinese government provided very little information about the
students who were killed during the earthquake, Weiwei and his assistants
went from home to home, collecting the names of all the children who had
gone missing, ultimately tallying nearly 5,000 casualties -- a count the Chinese government either didn't conduct or kept secret from its citizens. Weiwei argues that these
deaths could have been easily prevented had the architectural foundation
of the government-funded schools been built sturdier.
I typically avoid posting profanity on this blog, but this picture is the best because Weiwei's "fuck you" carries a lot of meaning.
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