ON TUESDAY Shanghai authorities demolished a million-dollar studio built by Ai Weiwei, an important and controversial Chinese artist. Mr Ai, who has developed a reputation for being critical of China's leaders, was told the building did not meet code. The Shanghai city government had invited him to build the studio in the first place, to attract prominent artists to the city. Two years and many meetings later, the structure is now a pile of rocks. Mr Ai naturally suspects foul play.
'In China being original…immediately people think that you are a danger,' Mr Ai explained in an interview with The Economist (embedded below) some months ago. Individualism and creativity are frowned upon in a culture that prizes the art of imitation and the politics of deference. As an artist who has remained in China despite his outspoken disapproval of the status quo, Mr Ai has become a symbol of tenacity in the face of sinister bureaucratic illogic. But this comes at a high cost, as evidenced by the rubbled remains of years of work.
In a fine profile of Mr Ai for the New Yorker last year, Evan Osnos described him as a rare figure: 'a bankable global art star who runs the distinct risk of going to jail.' Mr Osnos followed up with Mr Ai after his studio was left in ruins; the story he tells gives Kafka a run for his money:
By last July, Ai had finished construction in Shanghai and was poised to open. All of a sudden, he received another round of paperwork. “We get this paper and it says that the studio has to be destroyed. I thought it was some kind of mistake,” Ai told me. The same official came to see him again. “He said, ‘Weiwei, I am sorry but there is nothing that can stop it.’ They came up with a reason but it doesn’t make sense. They told me that the use of the land is not lawful.” Ai went on, “There was never any paper to explain what had changed. But several people who work with him told me that it was because of my political involvement.”...
Ai was eventually released from house arrest, and he said he was told the demolition in Shanghai would begin sometime after Chinese New Year, which falls on February 3rd this year. Yesterday, however, he received another call, this time from a neighbor in Shanghai; the demolition had begun without warning. He hopped a plane, and by the time he arrived, the artist in him—he is known, after all, for his gleeful destruction of ancient urns—couldn’t help but be impressed by the speed of the destruction. “They had a very professional demolition team. Two sides, each side had four machines, big machines tearing it down and breaking it. I watched until night came.” He sent photos and videos out over the Web.
With the fortitude of the besieged, Mr Ai has already described the demolition as an ultimate work of art. “Everything is in the past. And we have to look forward,” he said to Mr Osnos with impressive calm. A sanguine attitude with hope for a better future is perhaps the best armour when living in a ruthless and unpredictable place. As Mr Ai told The Economist, 'If you prepare to stay, then you have to fight. There’s no other way. There’s no freedom that will be given by the government, especially this government.'
No comments:
Post a Comment