@Large Ai Weiwei Part 4

 Posted by on January 16, 2015
Jan 162015
 

Alcatraz Island
September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015

Alcatrax

There are two audio exhibits in this exhibition.  The first can be found in the first floor, cell block A of the Cellhouse.   Inside each cell, you can stand, although, as you can see, stools are provided, while you listen to spoken words, poetry, and music by people who have been detained for the creative expression of their beliefs, as well as works made under conditions of incarceration.  There are 12 cells and each cell features a different recording. You can hear things as diverse as Tibetan singer Lolo, who has called for his people’s independence from China; the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, opponents of Vladimir Putin’s government; and the Robben Island Singers, activists imprisoned during South Africa’s apartheid era.

All of the audios can be heard here.

The poetry or spoken words are in the language of the author so Martin Luther King was the one that I most understood, however, music is universal and those were where I found myself spending the most time.

DSC_5336

In the hospital area are two more audio installations. They are in side by side tiled chambers in the Hospital, that were once used for the isolation and observation of mentally ill inmates. They are a Tibetan Chant and the chants of the Eagle Dance of the Hopi. The Tibetan chant is a Buddhist ceremony for the goddess Palden Lhamo, protectress of Tibet; it was recorded at the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India, a monastery historically associated with the Dalai Lama. The Hopi music comes from a traditional Eagle Dance invoking the bird’s healing powers. Hopi men were among the first prisoners of conscience on Alcatraz, held for refusing to send their children to government boarding schools in the late 19th century.   If you would like to get a sense of those two chants you can listen here.

Ai Weiwei blossom

What I came for, and was only slightly disappointed in, not because of the installation but because of the concept that you have to keep people an arms length away from art, was Blossom.

Blossom by Ai Weiwei

To me this is quintessential Ai Weiwei.  The curator tells you that: The work could be seen as symbolically offering comfort to the imprisoned, as one would send a bouquet to a hospitalized patient. The profusion of flowers rendered in a cool and brittle material could also be an ironic reference to China’s famous Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956, a brief period of government tolerance for free expression that was immediately followed by a severe crackdown against dissent.

Ai Weiwei porcelain

I have always felt that Ai Weiwei has a strong connection with porcelain and that his creative juices seem to flow through this medium.

Blossom by Ai Weiwei

One of my favorite Ai Weiwei quotes.

“The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”

Refraction @Large Ai Weiwei Part 3

 Posted by on January 15, 2015
Jan 152015
 
Refraction @Large Ai Weiwei Part 3

Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26 2015 You are not able to view this piece from any place other than the guards catwalk above the room, while peering through panes of glass, this is why I have had to take the photo from the website.  It was a very foggy day when I was there and pictures of this installation piece were almost impossible. The 8,000-pound sculpture is made of solar panels used to heat food in Tibet.  The sculpture resembles a giant bird’s wing.   The peering through the glass is another metaphor for imprisonment, and the Continue Reading

Trace @Large Ai Weiwei Part 2

 Posted by on January 14, 2015
Jan 142015
 
Trace @Large Ai Weiwei Part 2

Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015 This is Trace.  The most ambitious, the most highly touted, the most written about, and yet, in my opinon, the one that least lived up to expectations. This entire project is made of 1.2 MILLION LEGO blocks. It took a long time for the committee that put this together to decide who should be in it. Ai Weiwei selected these individuals based on information provided by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, he has called them “the heroes of our time”.  The group also consisted of  independent research members of Continue Reading

With Wind @Large Ai Weiwei Part 1

 Posted by on January 13, 2015
Jan 132015
 
With Wind @Large Ai Weiwei Part 1

Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015 If you have read this blog often you will know that I am a huge Ai Weiwei fan.  I finally had the opportunity to visit the installation of his work on Alcatraz Island, and walked away as impressed as ever.  There is so much that has been written on this exhibit that I am going to simply show you a few photos with explanations and encourage you to catch it before it leaves. The exhibit is found in many different areas, and I do not recommend attempting to do both the Continue Reading

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