{"id":19811,"date":"2015-10-06T21:24:04","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T20:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/?p=19811"},"modified":"2018-08-26T13:14:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-26T12:14:33","slug":"ai-weiwei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/ai-weiwei\/","title":{"rendered":"Ai Weiwei"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ai<\/a>Last Saturday, Jennifer and I went\u00a0to see Ai Weiwei<\/a> at the Royal Academy<\/a>. We got there about thirty minutes before the doors were due to open, affording us time to look at and sit amongst his\u00a0Tree\u00a0sculptures that now fill the Royal Academy\u2019s courtyard. The piece offers a calm and somewhat uncomplicated introduction to his work. One that is in stark contrast to many of the pieces currently housed inside the Royal Academy\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n

The doors opened at 10:00am. We collected our tickets and headed straight into the show. Each room offered a specific insight into Ai\u2019s life and work \u2013 celebrating his use of found materials; his creative originality in blending the old with the new; and putting front and centre his will to challenge the establishment that has for so long sought to suppress his views.<\/p>\n

\"Ai<\/a><\/p>\n

Walking out and mulling what we had observed over lunch, it was evident that Ai\u2019s work had profoundly affected the both of us. Each piece was a statement and a question. Through wood, iron, porcelain, marble, and many other materials Ai made us question our place in the world.<\/p>\n

In particular we were both struck by his piece \u2018Straight\u2019. Constructed from reclaimed rebar from the damaged school buildings, following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the piece is a powerful symbol. Weighing in at 150 tonnes it is a poignant reminder of the strength and solidarity of the Sichuan people following the massacre. It is a also testament to Ai\u2019s own endeavours to seek answers for the parents and families of the children killed due to the poor construction of the school buildings.<\/p>\n

\"Ai<\/a><\/p>\n

This was the tip of the iceberg. Not one piece in the exhibition is superficial \u2013 to be taken at face value. Each room implores you to engage with Ai\u2019s story. And it is a deeply meaningful one; fraught with the scars of persecution.<\/p>\n

Photos: CC. Jennifer Michie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Saturday, Jennifer and I went\u00a0to see Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy. We got there about thirty minutes before the doors were due to open, affording us time to look at and sit amongst his\u00a0Tree\u00a0sculptures that now fill the Royal Academy\u2019s courtyard. The piece offers a calm and somewhat uncomplicated introduction to his work. … Continue reading Ai Weiwei<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[918],"tags":[876,611,194,877],"class_list":["post-19811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-ai-weiwei","tag-art","tag-politics","tag-royal-academy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19811"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20105,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811\/revisions\/20105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesmichie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}