Aggression against an Artist
Ai Weiwei is quickly becoming the newest focal point in the war between the CCP and advocates of free speech for the Chinese people. Frankly, the actions of the government--destroying his art studio in Shanghai then shanghaiing him from a plane flight and drumming up fake accusations--have done more damage to their credibility as responsible leaders than his explorations of official malfeasance could have ever done.
The newest accusation is the funniest by far: Ai Weiwei has now been accused of plagiarism of a performance art piece, wherein he flew ordinary Chinese to an art exhibition in Germany as "living pieces of art". The idea, apparently, was "stolen" from an art professor teaching in Xi'an. I'm not entirely sure if this is a complaint directed against him by the government, or whether someone sees this as an opportunity to attack a public figure while he is vulnerable.
As an artist myself, I have several important questions about this accusation:
1) Can minimalist performance art be copyrighted? Performance, by its nature, is changed by its location and time. Small changes in performance make a big difference to the resulting piece of art.
2) Did this Xi'an art professor actually enact his art idea? Or did he just talk about the idea as an abstract?
3) Did this Xi'an art professor fly ordinary Chinese to an international art exhibition? Did he just invite ordinary Chinese to a domestic art exhibition as "living pieces of art"? This is a very important difference in the conception of the performance: different audience can, in this case, change the meaning of the art completely. I could write an entire essay on the possible differences, as could any other decent artist, writer, or philosopher.
Regardless, I think we can gain at least one valuable thing from this fiasco: aggression by the Chinese government against an acclaimed artist who has also stood up for the rights of the common people--victims of the Wenchuan Earthquake, for example--can also be seen as an act of performance art. A useful and interesting performance that reveals nothing but the weaknesses of the powerful.
I call this work of art, "Grasping at Straws, 2011".
The Chinese government has no legitimate complaint against Ai Weiwei, thus they begin the process of slander. It would not be acceptable, after all, for anyone critical of their policies and government process to be seen as a true defender of China.
And yes, I am angry about this. If government (any government) attacks one artist for his or her art, it attacks us all.
The newest accusation is the funniest by far: Ai Weiwei has now been accused of plagiarism of a performance art piece, wherein he flew ordinary Chinese to an art exhibition in Germany as "living pieces of art". The idea, apparently, was "stolen" from an art professor teaching in Xi'an. I'm not entirely sure if this is a complaint directed against him by the government, or whether someone sees this as an opportunity to attack a public figure while he is vulnerable.
As an artist myself, I have several important questions about this accusation:
1) Can minimalist performance art be copyrighted? Performance, by its nature, is changed by its location and time. Small changes in performance make a big difference to the resulting piece of art.
2) Did this Xi'an art professor actually enact his art idea? Or did he just talk about the idea as an abstract?
3) Did this Xi'an art professor fly ordinary Chinese to an international art exhibition? Did he just invite ordinary Chinese to a domestic art exhibition as "living pieces of art"? This is a very important difference in the conception of the performance: different audience can, in this case, change the meaning of the art completely. I could write an entire essay on the possible differences, as could any other decent artist, writer, or philosopher.
Regardless, I think we can gain at least one valuable thing from this fiasco: aggression by the Chinese government against an acclaimed artist who has also stood up for the rights of the common people--victims of the Wenchuan Earthquake, for example--can also be seen as an act of performance art. A useful and interesting performance that reveals nothing but the weaknesses of the powerful.
I call this work of art, "Grasping at Straws, 2011".
The Chinese government has no legitimate complaint against Ai Weiwei, thus they begin the process of slander. It would not be acceptable, after all, for anyone critical of their policies and government process to be seen as a true defender of China.
And yes, I am angry about this. If government (any government) attacks one artist for his or her art, it attacks us all.