Ai Weiwei parla

by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Alessandra Salvini (Translator)

Nell'aprile 2011, senza alcuna accusa formale, la polizia cinese arresta Ai Weiwei e lo tiene recluso per 81 giorni in una località segreta. Il mondo dell'arte si indigna e organizza mostre, petizioni, coinvolgendo i governi per fare pressione per il suo rilascio. Il nome di Ai Weiwei oltrepassa la cerchia degli appassionati di arte e architettura, l'onda del web lo diffonde su scala mondiale: Ai Weiwei diventa il simbolo della lotta per la libertà di espressione in Cina. In "Ai Weiwei parla", attraverso una serie di interviste raccolte tra il 2006 e il 2009, l'artista racconta ad Hans Ulrich Obrist l'infanzia segnata dall'esilio del padre, il poeta Ai Qing, accusato di anticomunismo. L'adolescenza, passata a disegnare nelle stazioni ferroviarie; gli anni ottanta a New York, l'incontro con Alien Ginsberg; il ritorno a Pechino nel 1993 e la determinazione a lottare per la libertà nel suo paese. Artista, fotografo, architetto, curatore, con facilità sorprendente Ai Weiwei passa da un medium espressivo all'altro. Scatta fotografie in continuazione e le pubblica su quel blog che conta centomila contatti al giorno. Il suo blog scatena la reazione del governo, che lo chiude nel 2009. Nonostante i bavagli, Ai Weiwei continua a essere attivo su internet. E all'intrusione della polizia nella sua vita risponde con l'ironia del gesto artistico: quattro webcam che lo riprendono ventiquattr'ore su ventiquattro. Sono state messe off-line il giorno dopo.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Architecture, Art Design

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Hans Ulrich Obrist is co-director of the Serpentine Gallery in London. Prior to this, he was Curator of the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris from 2000 to 2006, as well as curator of Museum in progress, Vienna, from 1993 to 2000. Obrist has co-curated over 250 exhibitions since his first exhibition, the Kitchen show (World Soup) in 1991: including 1st Berlin Biennale, 1998; Utopia Station, 2003; 1st & 2nd Moscow Biennale, 2005 and 2007; Lyon Biennale, 2007; and Indian Highway, 2008-2011.
Obrist is the editor of a series of conversation books published by Walther Koenig. He has also edited the writings of Gerhard Richter, Gilbert & George and Louise Bourgeois. He has contributed to over 200 book projects, his recent publications include A Brief History of Curating, dontstopdontstopdontstopdontstop, The future will be…with M/M (Paris), Interview with Hans-Peter Feldmann, and Ai Wei Wei Speaks, along with two volumes of his selected interviews (Interviews: Vol. 1 & 2). The Marathon series of public events was conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist in Stuttgart in 2005. The first in the Serpentine series, the Interview Marathon in 2006, involved interviews with leading figures in contemporary culture over 24 hours, conducted by Obrist and architect Rem Koolhaas. This was followed by the Experiment Marathon, conceived by Obrist and artist Olafur Eliasson in 2007, the Manifesto Marathon in 2008, the Poetry Marathon in 2009, Map Marathon in 2010, and the Garden Marathon in 2011.
In 2009, Obrist was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In March 2011, he was awarded the Bard College Award for Curatorial Excellence.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty repetitive — it's almost like they keep having the same conversation over and over! — and contains a fair bit of unnecessary namedropping on Obrist's part ('I spoke to Uli Sigg the other day...'; 'Eric Hobsbawm was saying to me the other day...'). Nevertheless, not a bad read, particularly 'Retrospective', a chapter about Ai's background.

[sevdah]

I've been interested, for some time now, in the idea of a book of interviews with the same person, by the same person. It's like walking in and out of a conversation between two people who both like to talk about the same topic in different ways. This has been the experience of this book and it was really very interesting. You really, by the end of it, walk out feeling like you've read all the past and future interviews with Ai Weiwei.
Who is, of course, incredibly interesting and endlessly fascinating. His personal story, his family's story, and the insights he has to offer on his country's political and artistic life are all really interesting to read about. That's the greatest thing here: how much he actually has to say and do.

[Linnea Österberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hans Ulrich Obrist together with Ai WeiWei makes the best dance partner for your mind to take a swirl

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

He didn’t have much to say.

[Salar Jodeiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

راجع به این؟ نمی دانم. نمی توانم پی آمدش را ببینم. من کار را بدون فکر کردن به قبل و بعدش انجام می دهم... بله خیلی خیالپردازی نمی کنم. هیچ خیالی ندارم. حافظه ندارم.

کتاب سراسر است نقل های بی مانند و اشاره های مختلف به شخصیت بی نظیر آی وی وی.
آی وی وی از نظر نوع شخصیت و برخورد کلی و همه جانبه اش برای من بسیار يادآور عباس کیارستمی است.
کیارستمی عزیز

بهمن 94

[Mircalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

intervista a Ai Weiwei

molto interessante, anche se sto già leggendo a gocce il libro con i post del suo blog, questo può essere considerato un condensato del suo pensiero...

[Ilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful for understanding the situation of the arts in China and its history of censorship.

[Dana Waitai-Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book !!! love how he uses art to challenge the status quo and the thought process he goes through to get to this point

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone picking a book called "Ai Weiwei Speaks" I imagine has some idea of who the artist is. Seeing this on the shelf at the store, I'd hoped to find a rich background of information that only a journalist might have access to. Unfortunately, this book is just an assembling of previous articles over a period of 10 years (and without the original accompanying pictures). The real detractor for me however was how repetitive the interviewer's questions were between sessions; there's a plethora of occasions where the same question and answer are given. The artist Ai Weiwei is sensible and brilliant; this book does not do him justice.

[Oriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved AWW's responses but not so much Obrist's questions (too repetitive, priggish, formalistic). Some pearls of wisdom from the book so you don't have to read it:

1. Life is about using time up. It's nothing more than that
2. The experience itself is the goal, it doesn't need another aim
3. Architecture is a kind of poetry; you use your hands to illustrate your understanding of art and the human condition (and how you can change your conditions)
4. The most beautiful things in life come by coincidence not by plan
5. It's important to write things down, to clear out what you want to say. Maybe you're just empty, but maybe you have to define the emptiness to be clear

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides some interesting insights into Ai Wei Wei's work. A lot of questions are repeated over the different interviews, which does sometimes give the feeling of reading the same conversation over and over.

[Kelv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither good nor bad... somewhere in the middle. In hindsight and in the future, there is significance in what has been written. Although, it takes effort to prise out new information from the duplication.

However, I feel wiser about AWW and his contribution to humanity.

[Alvaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apasionantes conversaciones con el artista chino Ai Wei Wei, que permiten comprender más su visión y propuesta. Se hace necesaria una edición en castellano.

[léo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s really interesting the way that Ai Wei Wei works. This book gives the reader an idea of his process and mind. It’s a quick and interesting book!

[Matthew Dupla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this, awesome insights into art and it’s place in totalitarian societies, also was cool to get insight into his blogs, only problem was that it was a little too repetitive.

[Jolene Leong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little repetitive in the middle. Could do without one of the interview sessions, but overall a good book. It broadened my mind, opened my eyes, and made me think.

[Dami Dami · Rating 3 out of 5]

No

[Vilma Klingaite · Rating 3 out of 5]

It ist an interesting book and you can definitely find some important facts about Ai Weiwei and how he is thinking. But the book is repetitive! Same questions in different interviews...

[Efe Teksoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting

[Ellis Heaps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes i think ive had a hard day and then i think of Ai Wei Wei and then I realise it could be worse. He’s the definition of trauma into art. LOVE YOU AI WEI WEI

[Júlia Valdelírio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Livro porre, repetitivo, cheio de name dropping. Ai Weiwei personalidade chata e prepotente, odiei.

[Geof Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super interesting guy discussing his works.
Felt like a missed opportunity.
If you want to read Ai Wei Wei speaking it does deliver.

[Marisa Bantjes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book, a small collection of interviews with Ai Weiwei, Chinese avant garde artist, architect and blogger (and more), after visiting his wonderful exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in October 2015. I love Ai Weiwei's art and wanted to know more about this artist. The interviews are informative, but Hans Ulrich Obrist too much likes to have us know how chummy he is with famous people in the art world. i found his name-dropping irritating. Just let Ai Weiwei speak!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of interviews between Ai Wei Wei and Hans Ulrich Obrist, covering Ai's career trajectory and how he got into different areas of art like architecture and blogging. It's an entertaining read, because the artist's ideas are not related by an intermediary. Good as an introductory read on Ai Wei Wei.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in a couple hours. This short book packs a punch. Ai Wei Wei has such a clear, simple, elegant vision. He says a lot of things that seem a bit cryptic, or poetic, or spontaneous, or only halfway thought through. It's terribly compelling. Definitely recommend reading this and checking out his work.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed his opinion on production, creation and profession.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into Chinese art culture and/or lack of in the last 20-30 years. Just as interesting to get the views of this bloke... he's a bonkers genius

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing political artist.