Ai Weiwei's Blog: Writings, Interviews, and Digital Rants, 2006-2009 (Writing Art) (Paperback) - Common

by Weiwei Ai

In 2006, even though he could barely type, China's most famous artiststarted blogging. For more than three years, Ai Weiwei turned out a steady stream ofscathing social commentary, criticism of government policy, thoughts on art andarchitecture, and autobiographical writings. He wrote about the Sichuan earthquake(and posted a list of the schoolchildren who died because of the government's"tofu-dregs engineering"), reminisced about Andy Warhol and the EastVillage art scene, described the irony of being investigated for "fraud"by the Ministry of Public Security, made a modest proposal for tax collection. Then, on June 1, 2009, Chinese authorities shut down the blog. This book offers acollection of Ai's notorious online writings translated into English--the mostcomplete, public documentation of the original Chinese blog available in anylanguage.The New York Times called Ai "a figure of Warholian celebrity."He is a leading figure on the international art scene, a regular in museums andbiennials, but in China he is a manifold and controversial artist, architect, curator, social critic, justice-seeker. He was a consultant on the designof the famous "Bird's Nest" stadium but called for an Olympic boycott; hereceived a Chinese Contemporary Art "lifetime achievement award" in 2008but was beaten by the police in connection with his "citizeninvestigation" of earthquake casualties in 2009. Ai Weiwei's Blog documentsAi's passion, his genius, his hubris, his righteous anger, and his vision for China.

Genres: Art, China, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Ai Weiwei is one of the world's most important living artists. Born in 1957, He lives in Cambridge.

Reviews

[Mary Louise Schumacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book at a very peculiar time. Our local art museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, was opening the "Summer of China," the only exhibit in the U.S. to open in collaboration with the Chinese government at the time of the imprisonment of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. At the same time, my mother had suffered a terrible injury. She had been in a burn unit at a local hospital where my partner and I stayed with her around the clock for weeks on end. When my mom became weaker and weaker, we made the decision to take her home and care for her there. This meant dressing wounds, doing physical therapy, making her high calorie shakes to keep weight on her, and many other little travails. It was just the two of us most hours of the day. I took family leave time to care for her. Though I wasn't in the newsroom, I ended up writing a story about Ai's imprisonment and the implications for MAM from home. At some point, I decided to do a daily blog post reflecting on Ai Weiwei's ideas for as long as he remained held. It seemed like a small act of support for this important artist and appropriate for an art critic in a city celebrating "The Summer of China." So after a day of caring from my mom, I would crawl into bed, tired and emotionally drained, and open this book, excerpts of a blog scrubbed from the internet by Chinese authorities and written in Chinese. I found Ai's posts to be hilarious and more insightful and substantial than you might expect from an artist who takes pictures of himself flipping off the White House. It was difficult to choose what I would reflect on in my blog posts, there was just so much worth considering. We should all be grateful to MIT Press for translating and publishing Ai's blog.

[Mircalla · Rating 5 out of 5]

scrive Lu Xun
"Immagina una stanza di ferro, assolutamente priva di finestre e indistruttibile, dove dormono profondamente molte persone, che fra breve moriranno soffocate e che, passando dal sonno alla morte, non sentiranno assolutamente lo strazio della fine. Se adesso tu ti metti a gridare svegliando quelli che hanno il sonno più leggero e costringi questi pochi sfortunati a provare la sofferenza della loro inevitabile fine, credi di rendere loro un servigio?
Ma se alcuni si svegliano, non puoi affermare che non ci sia alcuna speranza di distruggere la stanza di ferro.
E' vero, sebbene avessi le mie convinzioni non potevo cancellare la speranza, poichè questa è nel futuro, nè potevo, con la mia testimonianza confutare la sua certezza."

Ecco Ai Weiwei fa solo questo: urla in una stanza di ferro sperando di svegliare chi ci sta dormendo
e le sue sono grida di dolore, di speranza e di indignazione
la Cina ha bisogno di molta gente che si metta a gridare, perchè ormai non è rimasto altro da fare...

la prosa è semplice
i concetti espressi lo sono ancora di più
la mente lucida di Ai Weiwei esprime il suo parere su situazioni che altri nemmeno vedono, guarda attraverso le vane parole di quelli che parlano per darsi un contegno e, da persona semplice quale è, arriva immediatamente al punto: non abbiamo bisogno di girare intorno alle cose, la vita deve essere vivibile e gli oggetti la devono rendere comoda
tutto qua
in effetti portato all'estremo è il concetto stesso di architettura: uso dello spazio in maniera funzionale

e lui usa pure il cervello nella stessa maniera
lo additano come pazzo
ma è solo perchè va contro il pensare comune
e contro la comodità di chi si è adagiato nel sistema e non ne vede i difetti...
interessante davvero!

[Inertiatic85]

Comprai questo testo al bookshop della mostra su Ai Weiwei tenuta a Firenze a cavallo tra 2016 e 2017. Si tratta di una raccolta selezionata di articoli scritti sul suo blog, prima che fosse chiuso dalla censura cinese nel 2009. Si parla di politica, di società, di diritti umani, anche di arte e architettura e Ai Weiwei lo fa sempre con lo spirito che lo contraddistingue all'interno dei suoi lavori, ovvero con sincerità e senza peli sulla lingua. A volte sono vere e proprie invettive. Alla lunga i temi si ripetono e gli articoli sembrano simili tra loro e il volume è più lungo di quello che sembra, però resta una lettura interessante per chi vuole capire cosa succedeva in Cina dieci-dodici anni fa e quali sono stati i disagi e i problemi che i cittadini con la volontà di rivendicare i propri diritti hanno dovuto affrontare.

[Audrey Kalman]

the sentence I think I'll remember most is this, about Andy Warhol: "Understand him, and you will understand the United States, for he is the most tragically beautiful legend in the history of American art, a unique artist of purely American values; he perfected art, and his departure brought the end of an era."

[Vincent Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been reading this, dipping in and out, over a couple of years. Of interest of artist-activist within China about the state of China from within. Not trembling insights, but the day to day struggle to live in such a relentlessly stifling government.

[Celine · Rating 4 out of 5]

艾未未究竟是艺术家 激进分子还是政治人物？看他的博客文章觉得他思路清晰 于是应该再多一个作家 毕竟也是艾青的儿子。

[Kerem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised after reading Weiwei, similarities between China and Turkey. Statements made by the state authorities after scandals, promises being made for those who died in the earthquake, urban transformation projects, relations with Tibet. The fact that a lot of events that take place in China,resembles similar expressions Turkey.

beside all similarities i highly recommend this book for understanding todays China. very well prepared, footnotes are incredible because if you are not chinese there is very little you might understand the meanings of chinese memes.

[Caterina Pierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important collection from Ai Weiwei's original blog posts from 2006-2009. I read it from cover to cover, but it's probably better as a source book. If you are interested in his work on the Bird's Nest, or his theories on architecture, this book has great discussions. His work on the Citizen Investigation is probably the most important event recorded in the book. I would recommend sections of it for students of Art and Activism and anyone interested in contemporary Chinese history in the age of the Internet. The material is dense but the translations are good.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I had to read this for a book group and did not expect to enjoy it. This man is brilliant. There's no box to put him into. In this book you see that he's a philosopher, photographer, architect, sculptor, and a critic of politics and culture. He's a man very concerned about the oppressed and the downtrodden. After reading this, I'm looking now forward to seeing an exhibit of his at an art museum.

[Peter Zingg · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing the historic photographic work that Weiwei did in New York in the 1980s, I felt compelled to read his blog posts. Much of the text is frustrating to read for non-artists, but Weiwei's writings here stand out as the loudest voice against the hegemony of the art world and the Chinese government.

[Patricia L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ai WeiWei is a leading figure in the international art scene. He was a consultant on the design of the famous Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing and called for an Olympic boycott. One of his art heros is the controversial Andy Warhol. This is a translated series of blogs from 2006- to May 28, 2009 when the Chinese authorities shit down the blog.

[Daniel D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS BOOK! It is a must have. A chinese artist commenting on chinese politics from a chinese perspective in a gorgeous book.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll look at his art instead. Though he is doing work beyond art in standing up to the CCP oppression.

[Mills College Library]

709.5109 A2882 2011