Ai Weiwei

I’m here in Kassel, Germany at one of the most important art exhibitions in the world, Documenta 12. Besides the three main questions discussed previously, a fourth theme developed, the “transmigration of form.” Meaning, how motifs, both physical and conceptual, jump from country to country.
I’m going to start with one of the most exciting artists here, Ai Weiwei, from China. His project, “Fairytales” (a reference to the Brothers Grimm, who wrote in Kassel), was to bring 1001 antique chairs from China, which are placed in the exhibition sites for visitor seating. Then he is bringing 1001 Chinese citizens to Kassel in batches of 200 for a week (the work is sponsored by a Swiss company). The requirements were that they had never been out of China before. Most do not speak English or German. The photo above is one Chinese visitor sitting among some Chinese chairs. He gave me a kiss!
Ai Weiwei also built a tower out of antique Chinese doors and windows, but it collapsed after a few days (making it more valuable because newsworthy). This work is ALIVE! Challenging, interactive, and a bit threatening. His works interact with the spaces and artworks around them. Very cool.