Ai Weiwei

The artist Ai Weiwei has not been heard from since Sunday morning Beijing time, when he was detained at the Beijing airport before a routine flight to Hong Kong. Shortly thereafter, a team of police arrived with a search warrant at his studio, in the dusty suburban village of Caochangdi. Officers took away eight of his assistants, bringing them to a police station in Beijing, according to a Twitter message sent out from his office shortly before it went largely silent. “There are police at the front and back doors, no way to go in or out.” the tweet said. Ai’s wife, Lu Qing, was kept at the studio with the police.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2011/04/ai-weiwei-detained.html#ixzz1MdgFRx4E

i'm really excited about photographing these.

......

In the days immediately following Ai's disappearance, high-contrast graffiti images appeared throughout Hong Kong showing the bearded face of the artist and a simple question, "Who's afraid of Ai Weiwei?" Another graffiti campaign flashed a projection of the Ai Weiwei image onto the Chinese People's Liberation Army barracks in Hong Kong.

The artists behind the graffiti are laying low -- and for good reason. Hong Kong police are investigating criminal damage charges against them with a prison term a possibility.

One can only wonder if Ai would nod in approval to such acts of creative defiance here in Hong Kong.

Ai remains detained for an indefinite period of time in an undisclosed location. Despite his imprisonment, Ai has opened major exhibitions in New York and London ... and inspired a grassroots movement in Hong Kong while defiantly raising his middle finger in a massively public space on Chinese soil.

The artist may be silenced, but not his message.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/26/hong.kong.art.weiwei/index.html?hpt=Mid

It does make you wonder why the Chinese Government has such an issue with Artists. His work is hardly outlandish and provocative or inflammatory to civil unrest.

I just don't think they like anyone to show any kind of creativity because that could lead to thinking outside the box and asking questions, but in this day and age you wonder how long they can keep up that level of control over the people.

what's REALLY fucked is that they allow dissent and criticism

BUT there is a line..

and no one knows EXACTLY where that line is

i heard about a guy who'd exposed some environmental corruption or something in the govt

and they listened to him and supported his work

but as he dug deeper more shit came up

and then one day he disappeared

i too wonder how long you can keep millions locked down like that

but they have this incredibly powerful military..

really, considering what's happened to communism in our lifetimes, they are pretty fucking impressive. and very scary. i've considered trying to do cleans in china before, what that would be like.

i always come back to a story i'd heard while overseas a few years ago, a british national who was retarded (who had very likely been duped) was discovered smuggling a medium amount of drugs, i think it was heroin. and they sentenced him to death. britain was pleading, his family was begging, for mercy, yknow, him being retarded and all and please spare his life.

they didn't. they didn't even delay the execution. places where life is worthless fascinate me. .mostly due to the stark contrast to here, where life is the ultimate prize.

Yea I remember that story about the British guy, just crazy, Just reading through the stories that Christo-f posted about China just blew my mind too.

I agree no one knows where that line is and they certainly wont give you any indication you have crossed it til they kick your door in and march you to some hell hole.

^what a tactic, yknow? pretty fucked up mind control

reminds me of 1984., the way they break the people down into subservience.

It´s a shame to say but our "western" countries benefit a lot from the slave-like conditions in Chinese factories, which is also directly tied to the questionable policies (censorship, oppression etc.) of that land. Do you really think that pair of Jordans you´re wearing was produced in a fair way?

^r u serisou?

sure bubu

but that's not at all what we're talking about. this is about art, and about ai weiwei.

if anything, i'm on the side of the oppressed asian

so before you start spouting off like you're kickin knowledge

spend more than 3 seconds on here and realize who you're dealing with

:rolleyes:

really, get over yourself bub

That giant suspended spider/web is rad ass

i love those heads.

i said it before, i'll say it again, i really want to photog them

with your slave made chinese camera? huh!?

where is christo? i'd like to hear his take on ai's imprisonment.

haha yeah, those japanese slaves at canon..

i don't know where the fuck he's been... MIA.

He was released recently, remembered reading this story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23artist.html

^yes, ai weiwei was released, which is great.

fist 666 and i are wondering where chrito-f (an oontz member) has been.. dunno if that's what you were referring to.

anyway thanks for posting the story

Neanderthal rules.

Ai Weiwei - Snake Bag

The undulating 55 feet long serpent is created from 360 children’s backpacks and commemorates the deadly 2008 Sichuan earthquake. When the artist – activist saw the scattered backpacks in the rubble left by the thousands of children that died because of poor building code attributed to local corruption, the idea of fashioning them into a symbol of wicked cunning in Chinese lore seemed sadly appropriate.

Full story: http://arrestedmotion.com/2011/10/art-platform-11-ai-weiwei/

His latest exhibition in LA...

Used to know people who worked with him when I lived in Beijing. Apparently he doesn’t like graf, thinks it’s not art. I found that an artist would make any call regards what qualifies.