ai wei wei artwork
Straight (2008-12)
This artwork is a representation of an earthquake and of its effects. It is a statement about the governmental corruption and negligence that took place during this catastrophe. The province of Sichuan suffered massive casualties including thousands who were left dead and missing. Many of the victims were children whose poorly constructed school had collapsed on top of them. Ai, was outraged to discover that this could have been avoided. This art piece serves as both a memorial and a call to action to hold the Chinese government accountable and urge it to take preventative steps to avoid future disaster. This artwork took four years to complete as it is almost 40 feet long and 20 feet wide - weighing 200 tons. Bent and broken steel reinforcement bars were used and were part of the remnants of the collapsed schools. These bars were reformed to look as they would have before the earthquake.
"The bars in waves resemble the oscillations in an earthquake on a seismograph. The fissures between them resemble fault lines. The thousands of individual components reference the individual lives lost, a typical feature of Ai's symbolism."
This piece of art marked the beginning of a turbulent period in Ai's relationship with Chinese authorities.
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