Ai WeiWei's Evidence at Gropius Bau

Today we saw an exceptional exhibit appropriately called 'Evidence' by Ai WeiWei. Most pieces were created for this 18-room, 3000 square meter space, or else newly shown here in Germany.

What a massively accomplished artist and human rights activist. He filled this incredible neo-Renaissance building with truth-telling, compelling works and personal yet universal messages. The audio tour was essential in conveying the history behind each piece. I've never seen his art in person until today. It made quite an impression. It was such a mixed feeling when we left: a beautiful day out but tough to smile; the work resonates so deeply and explores repression, censorship, human suffering, reactions to authority, and traditional value placed upon cultural relics.

Below are images of highlights where I'll briefly encapsulate my understanding; it could be flawed!

This work hangs in the foyer above your head as you buy tickets; it is a chain of a popular brand of Chinese bicycles. While it looks very hip and cool, it actually commemorates a young person who ultimately lost his life due to government accusations of not having a bike rental permit, and then resistance or violence towards police.  The biker's supporters were unsuccessful in protecting the rider.

As you enter the main gallery, you see hundreds of unique but homogenous wooden stools, hand-fashioned without nails, that are commonly found in Chinese schools.  Only slowly are the wooden chairs being replaced by other materials. This powerful geometric arrangement speaks to Ai WeiWei's interest in and shared aesthetic with other modern artists, while conveying the concept of uniformity.

These rooms were tough: a video explained that a recent earthquake in the Szechuan area demolished many buildings causing major devastation and death. The collected rebar is evidence of faulty construction which led especially schools to suffer massive casualties. He probed into why that was with a 'Citizen's Investigation' enlisting the help of many people. The white rebar pieces are rendered in marble, as a social commentary about what is valuable: life, but typically marble is used to convey opulence.

These were my favorite pieces of all. These are Han dynasty ceramic vessels from 200 BC- 220 AD, covered in metallic auto paint. Wow, how ballsy is that. It creates a wave of reaction in me! He's exploring what makes an object valuable. In this case the metal paint represents cars that society uses a status symbol, while transforming ancient vessels into modern art. Crazy stuff.

In a similar vein, here he uses precious jade to represent mundane cosmetics and containers.

In these next pieces, porcelain crabs spill across the floor. Multiple layers here: Besides being beautifully made, I think the world for crab means/relates to harmony or unity in Chinese- as in the optimal society. But the artist hosted a shellfish dinner for supporters when his studio was abruptly dismantled for lack of permit. The ridiculous thing was that the artist was invited by the government to set up that exact studio in the first place. As the audio tour rightly pointed out, the whole fiasco was very Kafka-esque.

One of the most sensational and disturbing pieces was a video called "Dumbass" about his experience in prison, where he was guarded by two guards at all times. He sings a haunting chant-like song throughout. Nearby, he also recreated the prison room with precision so visitors can walk in and begin to imagine what it must have been like...

Finally, many rooms are covered in wall paper with repeating iconography of "I owe you's" that Ai Weiwei gave to his supporters when his studio was demolished and he wanted to continue working.

Here is a what he was working on in his studio: an ornate framed bed surrounded by brick stone walls. The bed symbolizes life: birth, illness, and death. The walls, a blockade of sorts. Sigh.

In the photographs below, Ai WeiWei travels the world flicking off major cultural monuments and government buildings. It's almost comical, but these were harder for me to relate to; I personally enjoyed my visit to say the Roman Colosseum, but I think the artist pushes viewers to question authority and cultural value. Perhaps he also rightfully harbors resentment toward all cultural institutions after his traumatic experiences with his own.

I'm skipping over a lot of other challenging works but as you can see it was rather monumental. This powerful exhibition interprets major injustices to the world by someone who is now not free to travel around it any longer. It remains up until July 7, 2014.

Just reflecting...