Ai Wei Wei is an artist whose work is a juxtaposition of the traditional Chinese arts in relation to the contemporary social and political issues in China. Wei Wei often poses his critique of his own Chinese culture, through the guise of the formal applications of art in his pieces. Ai Wei Wei has an interesting insight into what makes him an artist and what his particular role is in China and globally. After watching the video from Art 21 and PBS Frontline, on the contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei, and reflecting back on what you have learned about artists throughout this course, please answer the following questions below on the discussion board. (The Art 21 video you are viewing is the entire episode on “Change”. Ai Wei Wei is one segment of this video. Please fast forward to his segment, although it is recommended that you view all of the artists and their approach to the theme of “Change”.)
Links to videos:
https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s6/ai-weiwei-in-change-segment/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ai-wei-wei/
What is the role of an artist? What are the most important skills an artist can have? How does Ai view his role as an artist? How do his assistants view his role?
In what ways can art be political? What does political art look and sound like? Which works in this segment would you describe as political? Discuss your reasons.
