drunken artist rage

only i'm sober. SO Dramatic. bad mood monster.

damali abrams is doing a good job with her blog. i like the posts. they are descriptive and analytical. you should check it out.

(edited out more sulking that was right here X)

let's go find Ai Weiwei's blog and twitter. Now that's interesting. We learned tonight at the talk by an art historian who used to work at the getty and very well dressed i might add, i loved the popped collars and multilayers he was wearing, in different shades of black. we learned that Ai Weiwei avoids talking about his work. Is this significant to the work he makes? We learned that he told this art historian once when he was in sydney that he went gambling one evening and occasionally likes evenings out very late night. i like these kind of details about an artist. and we learned that he keeps a blog and twitter despite his antisocial tendencies. perhaps you knew this, as he was a leader on the team for the bird's nest for the beijing olympics...

ai weiwei has created a myth about himself. his art looks like big business with many highly skilled paid assistants. his activism on human rights in china is fearless. ai weiwei knows how to dream bigger and make it happen.


above: colored vases by ai wei wei. there was a video documenting the process accompanied to the piece.


some favorite pieces:

the coca cola vase
the 1001 chinese visitors at documenta
applying duchampian ready made principles to the culture and history of china pottery and then bastardizing that application. WIT. weiwei's wit wowed me.

there was a question about his favorite materials. we learned in the talk that weiwei hires skilled craftsmen do a lot of his work. i think his material is the performance and the mind fuck that he takes on chinese history to communicate a genuine critique of the chinese government's actions.

most of all, dear artist friends who might be reading this, we learned that it's the job of the art historian to talk about the work of the artist. but if you're in school that does not apply. hahahahahaaa. :)

ai weiwei will be part of an online conversation on monday march 15 on social media and activism. watch the art21 video on the site for this link. it's good.

words from the talk:

ARCHITECTURAL.

PERCEPTION OF MASS PRODUCTION IN CHINA VS US

WIT

SPIRITUAL POLLUTION IN CHINA BY WESTERN YOUTH CULTURE

REPATRIATION OF IMPERIALIST ICONS

IRONY

CULTURAL PRODUCTION

REPLICA OR ORIGINAL

READY MADE

AVANT-GARDE

ACTIVIST

ARTIST

the presenter also highly recommended this book:

Ten Thousand Things:
Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art
Lothar Ledderose

And when you buy that he also suggested you buy the exhibition catalogue for the Ai Weiwei show. Which i will.

The excellent talk tonight was by Dr. Charles Merewether!
Opening Event: Wednesday, March 3, 6:30 p.m.
"Under the Hammer", Dr. Charles Merewether, art historian, curator, and writer.