MCLC: Ai Weiwei vase broken in local protest (7)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Hongjian Wang <hw001 at uark.edu>
Subject: Ai Weiwei vase broken in local protest (7)
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The iconoclastic intention of Ai's act is quite obvious. But I'm not sure
if this analogy to the movie justifies Ai's art.

First, the movie is fictional, which conveys the idea of vandalism quite
well without making real and irrevocable destruction. Second, does one
really have to go to such an extreme to convey an "idea" and is the "idea"
worth such a destruction? Third, vandalism in the Chinese context is not
necessarily positive if we take the destruction of culture in the
twentieth century. Last but not the least, this analogy sort of devalues
Ai's smashing act since it is not original but on the verge of plagiarism.

I guess I just find it difficult to accept Ai's act without taking it as
ironic, but even the irony that I wish for cannot soothe the pain in my
heart.

Hongjian