MCLC: Ai Weiwei: wonderful dissident, terrible artist (2,3,4)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Stanley Seiden <stanley.seiden at gmail.com>
Subject: Ai Weiwei: wonderful dissident, terrible artist (2)
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I think I disagree with both Messrs Perl and Klein.  Or to speak more
positively, I agree with Perl's assessment of Ai's dissidence and Klein's
with his art.

With little artistic background, I feel far less qualified to comment on
Mr. Ai's artistic work, but as an enjoyer of art I've never found Ai's
work to strike any fewer aesthetic chords in me than the oeuvre others.
The history of artwork as revisualizations of every day objects is far
older than Ai (see Duchamp's urinal and Creed's balls of paper).  What's
more, the mere fact of one viewer's indifference to a piece of artwork
(such as Perl's bafflement at Cube Light) does not diminish its impact to
others.  Ai's animal heads may be devoid of deeper meaning than a
presentation of Chinese cultural icons, but I question Perl's seeming
renunciation of, say, the entire Pop Art movement, which was built on
nothing but stark portrayal of cultural icons.  It is hard to have
patience for a critic who would allow a conversation of art without Mickey
Mouse (or 生肖鼠, I suppose).

As for the dissidence of Ai, I highly recommend watching Never Sorry for
its detailed portrayal of the shape and form of Ai's work to criticize the
government.  I say "work" because it is a laborious project.  Ai doesn't
just post the picture of his brainscan on museum walls (which both Perl
and Klein object to on different merits); he makes numerous trips to
Chengdu, files all his paperwork, and documents the entire process.  The
message I took from Never Sorry, or at least from what it depicted of Ai's
process, was that it's never enough to simply denounce the Party as "bad."
 Ai has taken it upon himself to play out the system, follow the threads
to their end, and hold everyone (including himself) accountable for their
actions.

I think separating Ai's artwork from his dissidence (and I don't really
like splitting his public image into those two boxes in the first place;
there is more to Ai's promotion of good governance in China than simply
opposition to government policy) is also somewhat self-defeating.  His art
is a form of dissidence; his dissidence emerges as art.  Ai Weiwei is a
man who deeply loves his country and seeks to improve the government
therein, and much of his artwork is documentation of this passion and
pursuit.  Pollack threw paint against a canvas; Ai is throwing himself
against the similarly blank, expressionless expanse of the Chinese
government, in numerous shades and from numerous angles, and then leaves
us to see the marks that are left.  I am a cynical art student, and I
agree with Perl that a list of names typed on paper, on its own, is
largely absent of artistic merit.  But when I read that list, I am moved
by something much more potent than oils and charcoal.  Ai is not going to
win a Nobel Peace Prize any time soon, but he has taught Americans (and
the world) far more about China than Liu Xiaobo or Tan Zuoren.  That, too,
is a power of art: to rush in where dissidents aren't allowed to tread.

Ai is an artist; these are his works.  They have the power to stir us
emotionally, even if we don't understand every installation.  Why
shouldn't we put them in our museums?

Stanley

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From: Kristin E Stapleton <kstaple at buffalo.edu>
Subject: Ai Weiwei: wonderful dissident, terrible artist (3)

Dear all,

I agree with a lot of what Lucas Klein wrote in his response to the Perl
review of Ai Weiwei.  Speaking without any credentials as an art critic (I
did forward the review to my colleagues in Visual Studies here in Buffalo
for their thoughts but have not heard back yet), but having seen the
Hirshhorn exhibition and the documentary, I think Ai Weiwei's work is
trying to deal with Chinese history and the contemporary world in a
variety of interesting ways.  Maybe it is the eclecticism that Perl
objects to? That light cube was not all that moving to me, either, but it
certainly immediately called to mind the total glitz attack of 1990s
Chinese commercial spaces.  The map of China made out of wood reclaimed
from demolished historical buildings is pretty breathtaking, on the other
hand.  

As for Ai as a "one-trick pony" political activist, I think it's true that
in politics he is not as eclectic as in his art-making -- the ability to
share ones thoughts on any subject with whomever one wants and have free
access to public information that should legally be available are what he
asks for in almost all of his "performance art."  That's not a bad one
note for a one-trick pony to hold to, it seems to me, at this point in
history. (His broader approach to the question of the "legacy of Chinese
culture," explored by destroying ancient artifacts, etc., is also
political, but in a broader context of cultural politics). The Gangnam
thing may be silly, but being silly is not a particular heinous offense
(at least, I certainly hope not!) and perhaps it only became publicly
known because he has decided that it's better to just make his whole life
public than restrict it to his immediate circle and the public security
forces.  

By the way, Buffalo's Albright-Knox Gallery bought a couple of pieces from
the "Moon Chest" installation, which will come here after the exhibition
finishes its tour. 

Best wishes,
Kristin

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From: Sean Macdonald <smacdon2005 at gmail.com>
Subject: Ai Weiwei: wonderful dissident, terrible artist (4)

I read a review like Perl's with a large grain of salt.

Different forms of contemporary art have trajectories within their
respective historical contexts. Any work or production that merits serious
consideration deserves to be criticized in the context of other works and
their institutions. Although Perl doesn't seem to be a very nuanced art
critic, I find his comments to the originality, or lack of originality in
Ai's work, interesting.

Perl seems to want to simply criticize Ai's production as derivative
because Perl is anchoring Ai's aesthetic in Western neo or contemporary
avant-garde work, work that does play with ideas of originality and mass
production. Perl has a point here. But Ai also grounds the content of his
work in contemporary PRC politics and society. Perl also seems to
understand that Ai is not the first contemporary artist to articulate
explicit political messages. Perl just doesn't like Ai's "messaging."

The idea of bringing John Berger into a discussion about a contemporary
artist like Ai is also interesting, but maybe this is where Perl doesn't
get it. For example, extrapolating from Berger, Perl claims Ai's work
lacks "sense of the means as constituting an opportunity and a restraint."
And what if the artist's "lack of restraint" is precisely the point? What
if this "lack of restraint" is a kind of reply to a context (political,
social, and institutional) that still (from the point of view of the
artist) exerts too much restraint?

In the end, it is possible that neither Perl nor Ai are "conservative" or
"liberal." 

All the best,

Sean