Ai Wei Wei

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FOREWORD
When Tate Modern opened in 2000. Tll e Un ilevor S ' f im;

of annual comm issions for tlle Turbine HClII WClS ICluncllOd
wi th Louise Bourgeois' poignant sculpturClI towers 1Do. 1
Undo, 1Redo 2000. In tlle ensuing ten yeClrs. we Imvo s f1
increasingly complex and memorable responses to ti lO
iconic space of tlle Turbine Hall by leClding in tern<l ti onClI
artists. Each year art ists have taken new Clnd unexpec t d
approaches to th is vast , publ ic environm ent . fro m Bruco
Nauman 's aud io installation Raw Ma ten'als 2005. in which
sound was presented as sculptural material. to Doris
Salcedo 's Shibbo/eth 2008, a subterranean cllasm tl1 C1 t
Iiterally broke open the fabric of tll e bu ild ing . Clnd most
recently, Miroslaw Balka's, Ho w It Is 2009. a cavernous
steel structure witll a vast, d ark interior cll amber. We
were delighted therefore to be able to invite Ai Weiwei,
widely regarded as one of Cll ina's most ac tive and
creative Conceptual artists, as the eleventll to participate
in the series. His spectacul ar solo exllibition So Sorry
at Munich's Haus der Kunst in autumn 2009 under the
Directorship of Chris Dercon - wllo joins Tate Modern
as the new Director in spring 2011 - was an important
factor in our decision to extend th e invitation for a new
commission , confirming our belief in his ability to create
installations that are both thought-provokin g and aw einspiring . His installation Rememberin g 2009 on tll e
building 's facade , composed of tllousands of cllildren's
backpacks, commemorated th e thousands o f young
people who perished in the 2008 Siclluan earthqu ake
disaster. Soft Ground 2009, a rug measuring 380 square
metres, which recreated in minute detail tlle til ed lIoor of
the Haus der Kunst that lay beneath it. implicitly referred
to the building 's vexed and compl ex history.
Unlike previous commissions, in w hicl1 th e entire
Turbine Hall space has been made available to visitors.
Ai's installation is conceived specifically for th e east end
of the Turbine Hall. This is due to th e Transforming Tate
Modern building work, for which part of the west end of the
Turbine Hall has been section ed off as engineers prepare
to lay the foundations of Tate Modern 's new annex on th e
south landscape. th e first part of whicll begi ns w itll th e
renovation of the massive underground oil tanks. These are
ehlllIIM... to whIch AJ ha more than abIy fa spori'Ided, ,ndUiti
lhIt aubtllyetubamefypowerful.
, Ola allndsc8P8 made up of what appear lo be mil/lona of

sunflower seed hUsks, apparently ldentlcal but actua//y unlque.
AlthoUgh they Iook realistle, eaeh seed is made out of porcelain.
And far from belng an industrially produced, 'readyrnade' or a
found object, eaeh individual seed has been intricately handcrafted by one of a number of skilled artisans. Sunflower Seeds
is a vast sculpture whieh can be gazed upon from the vantage
point of the Turbine Hall bridge, or contemplated at clase range.
To attempt to quantify such a vast seedscape is impossible, yet
each piece is a part of the whole, a poignant commentary on the
reiatlonshlp between the individual and the masses.
Ai's extraordinary artistic achievements, which span three
decades. encompass sculpture, installations, architecture,
publishing, photographs, documentaries, films and extensive
writings in the form of personal blogs and commentaries on
social-networking sites. Tate has an ongoing commitment to his
work. In 2008, with the support of its Asia Paeifie Aequisitions
o 111 111 ittee 2007, tlle gallery acquired Ilis sculpture Table and
Pillar 2002. It is our ambition to continue to build on our collection
01 wOI'ks from tlle Asia Pacific area, and to represent it witllin tlle
programme as well as developing our expertise and researcll into
artisls living and working in tllis region . This commission
Ilas proved an importanl step in tllis endeavour.
We would like to express our sincere tllanks to Ai for accepting
Ihis COl11mission and for engaging so tlloughtfully in the process.
It 11as been a great Ilonour far Tate Modern 's Curator, Juliet
Bingham. lo wark witllllim and Ilis studio team at FAKE Design
in realising this project and we thank her most particularly for Iler
dedicalion and intelligent curatorial guidance. In addition, we
would like lo tllank Ai 's assistants, Nadine Stenke, E-Shyh Wong ,
Inserk Yang, Zhao Zhao, Jiang Li , Gui Nuo, Wen Tao , Lucas Lai,
Ragna van Doorn and Gao Yuan for handling every aspect of
lile cOlllplex organisation and installation, the publication and for
facililaling smoolh cOlllmunication with the various departments
al Tale. Mosl empllalically, we tllank tlle artisans of Jingdezhen
lor crealing sucll beaulilul objects.
We wish lo Ihank lile aulhors - Juliet Bingham, Marko Daniel,
Carol YlIlgllua Lu and Brendan McGetrick - each of whom
conlribuled an insi.ghtlul essay to the catalogue, exploring a
dllferenl lacel 01 Al Welwei's practice. In addition , we are grateful
lo Wenny Tea lar assisling willl research lar the catalogue and
l o Jenniler Ng for her language and cultural translation
Rose Deslgn adeptly conveyed lile artist's vision of a casual and
Sincere Ihanks are due to Judith Severne for her
p. and lo Roanne Marner lar the catalogue production.
Al Tale Modern, Assistanl Curator Kasia Redzisz has

given invaluable organisational support. Stephen Mellor,
Coordinator: Exhibitions & Displays, has provided perceptive
advice and technical support during the process. Registrar
Stephanie Bush has negotiated insurance and all aspects of
sea and land transportation. Phil Monk has carefully planned
the systematic installation of the work with his team . Special
thanks go to other Tate colleagues who have supported Ihe
project including: Marko Daniel and Gabriela Salgado in
Public Programmes; Annie Bicknell for turbinegeneration;
Duncan Holden in the Press Department; livia Ratcliffe and
Pete Gomori in Marketing and Communications; Marina
Busse and Emilie Janvrin in Development and Alisan
Kennedy in the Director's Office. Many thanks to Helen
Sainsbury, Julian Bird, Adrian Harwicke and Dennis Ahern ,
lor their advisory role on financial and logistical aspects of the
project. Kate Vogel, Tate Media, has produced an engaging
and infarmative documentary about Ai 's practice and thought
processes leading up to the commission. Kirstie Beaven,
Digital Programmes, has managed and coordinated a microsite project , One-to-One with the Artist, which specifically
relales l o Ai's own use 01 the inlerne!.
Far support in shipping Ihe sunflower seeds by sea lrom
China lo the UK and Ihen relurning Ihem lo China at the
close 01the com mission , we warmly thank Hanjin. Equally
w arm Ihanks go l o Hiscox lar insuring the sunllower seeds
lar transit and display. We are also gratelul to Cogapp l or
its w ork and support in realising t he One-to -One with the
Artist project.
FinaJly, we w ould like to express deep apprecialion lo
Unilever, and lo Group Chiel Execulive Paul Polman , lar
continuing lo provi de essenlial support lar Ihis ambilious
and w arld-renowned programme of commissions. The
Unilever Series has inspired overtwenty-four million visilors
lo Tate Modern since ils inceplion in 2000, enabling Tale lo
continue to invite artisls to make innovalive responses lo
this monumental and unique space.
Sheena Wagstaff
Chiel Curatar, Tate Modern
"
"
". . . " ...
"
JI .
Instead of putting a personal mark on something

asanartist. you set up a structure, you make room
for possibilities. 1
AlWeiwei'shouSe and studio complex. FAKE Design. is located in
Beijing'snortheast Caochangdi district, a semi-industrial area near
thecity's fifth ring road and not larfrom Beijing Capilallnternational
Alrport. lhe studio bustles with activity day and night. whil e at its
centreAi'snonchalant presence beles his rad ical think ing and
Ir.cBsS'ntoutput . The co nstant stream 01 visitors to the stud io
/ncIudeS musicians , actors, collectors, curators. architects,
academics, fashion designers, journalsts and lilm crews, m any
ofwhom are informally photograph ed by Ai and their images
posted directly onto the internet, part of his approach to making
his life and art t ransparent.

Before it was shul down by the Chinese authorities in May 2009,
Ai had a popular blog on which he posled Ihousands 01 d ocumentary

images 01 his life alongside poignant social and poltical commentaries.
He now avidly uses Twitter, on whi ch he currently has over lifty
thousand followers, to communicate hi s philoso phical and poltical
views.' A number 01 assistants lve within the studio co mpound in
l heir own apartments, while others arrive each day to work on vari ous
projects, lrom Ai"s ongoing citizen's investigation into Ih e thousands
of children who were kil led in the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sic huan
Province on 12 May 2008 (a disasl er compounded by the collapse 01
,nJdequately bu,lt schools) to preparalions lor myri ad inlern ational
exh,bi tions. commissions and biennales. The studio has a cook,
vegel able garden, chickens, ducks and idle dogs, nol lo mention the
mJny 'rescue' cals . In facI, cat wellare is Ihe subjecl 01 Ihe Studio's
mosl recen t hard-hi tting doc umentary di st ri but ed vi a the intern et,
San Hua, which reveals the cru elty 01 the Chinese cat -traffi cking trade.'
Al's olhe r, larger studios are located lurther out sid e the city, and
nccommodate skilled c raltsmen w ho produce hi s 'dysfunction al'
seulplures usong ancient Chinese furniture and c omplex l emple-wood
structures . Ai also has his own ki ln and a ded ic al ed l eam in
J,ngdezhen. Ihe 'porcelain city' in southern Ch ina's Jian gxi Province,
producong h,s varied ceramic works and continually exp erimenling
vlllh new ceramic forms .
...
Ai has rccenlly beell llll e:1tcned wi th eviction from his Caochangdi

stud!Q. 35 Ilnvo o tllor nrtl sts <lnd g::lllerists in the aren: the surrounding
S/11 3U . holdin gs nre c urrcntl y belng dem oll sll ed in order for rapid
recons trlJ c tion lo t.:1 ke pl.1ce as p::tr1 af C hinn's frene ti e urba ni sation .
In th e late t990s. wllIl no pl'lor nrc llltec tllrnl train ing. Ai designed his
In less th an two
monllls. lIsing.1 common brick to create a mini mal style (figs.1, 2) that
hns since genera led 1l1,:my architeclura l cOll1ll1issions for his Studio(rom designing ;] rn onument for th e Jjnhu3 Archit ec ture Park in
Zhejiang (fi g.3) to the Three Sh:1dows Photography Art Centre in
Beijing - :1S well:1s m:1ny imlt:1tors. Ai's own arc hitectural endeavours
were inspirecl by a house tll:11 tlle pllilosopher Lud wig Wittgenstein
h:1d built for 11is sister in Vienna. of Wllich Ai has commented: ' He's so
articulate in 11is expression. He tri ed to crack the absolute truth there.
The efl0l1. the repeated effort. made all his practice become one - just
one act.' ' We can see a similar eflort con tinu ally repeated in both Ai's
art and his arcllitectural projects. Tlle Studio House was the beginning
of some sixty nrchitectural projects. interior design and architectural
collaboration s. culmin ating most publicl y in hi s role as artistic
consultant for th e Beijing 'Bird's Nest' Stadium with arch itects Herzog
& de Meuron . For th e Ordos Proj ect (2008), Ai ereated a euratorial
framework. inviting Herzog & de M euron to seleet 100 young
intem ational architec ts who were each asked to design a vi lla for the
site in Inner Mongolia. China.' Providing a 'structure', sueh as enabling
100 individual approaehes to arehitecture, is a strategy that Ai has
used and continues to use in his work, from his conceptu al anthology
books of th e 19905 (the 8/ack, White and Grey Cover books); euratorial
projeets, most notably Fuck Off (2000); participatory works like Fairyta/e
for Docum enta 12 (whieh enabled 1,001 individual experienees in
Kassel) to the ehallenges that he eontinues to set for his artisans
stl/dlo complex 'in an l ft ern oon ' [lnd h o.d it buil!
working with carpentry and eeramics.
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2007-<1:) orvariations 01 'rectified' readymades and more recently,

mobilisal1Ons 01 the public (Fajrytafe 2007 : l igs.11 , 12, 13).
GiVen the drversity 01 Ar s practice, his various styles. media and
apprOC\ches. we were open-minded as to what lorm his project lor the
TurtJine Hall might take, bu! we knew that his philosophy 01 advocating
bo:h 1M Ireedoms and respcnslbilities of ind ividuals would be central.
The result is a work 0 1 extraord lnary beauty and subtle power. Titled
Sunflower Seeds 20 10. It leaves the fabric of the building undisturbed.
Hls intervention is rem lnlscent. in both ItS su btlety of form and its
labour-intensive nature. to his floor-based , site-spec ific carpet-piece
Soft Ground 2009 (flgs. 10. 11 ). created for his recent solo exhibition
at Haus d er Kunst. Sunflower Seeds, in striking contrast to the
monutnef1t.lhty o f S"nkslde's former power station , is composed of
rru!llons of sm,,1I obJects. These have been poured into the interior 01 this
vast Industnal s pace to form a seemingly infinite landscape made up of
:In
e quantlty of tiny objects. Contained in the east end 01 the
Turbone H"n, and bounded by the east and south walls, the seeds are
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for the univerS:11human vnluos of
freeCom .1nd opt'n sacl"t,.,
As Al comm<.'nts 111 Ihe II1 l erVlew w ll hln l ilis calnlogue,
'lndlVlduallsm' is a recent phenomelloll ln Chln::r provi ously, every
person Id"ntlfi<.'d ;vlth 3110111<'r It IS Inl efeSl lng lOnole 11131in Ihe Chinese
13nguage tht're IS no drrec l tr3nsl.1l lon 01Iho worti 'individu3lisrn ': Ihe
literal tr::msI Cltlon is geren :huyl, mCClIling 'mdividuCl I-iSIl1', which has
the connot:lt iol1 01 'me-lirst -ness' and th e neg31ive il1lplicntiol1 01
selfishness or self-cel1lredness," Tll e role 01Ihe individunl in sociely
is a concept that has preoccupied Ai's 111Inking :
Modern Chinese cultural history is one Ih:11scorns the value 01Ihe
ind ivid ual: it is a hisl ory 01suppressil1g hum:ll1 il y and spirrtualily,
Intel lectuals are invariably aU3cked Irom :111 direclions: powerlul
Western culture represen ted by aggression nd decying cognitive
structures represented by feudalisti c influences have placed
Chinese intellecluals in an embarrassing pred icamenL "
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mt"u.ltlon \\, H.lU$ dur Kunst. Mumch 2009
fh e uneasy place of the Individual in China can be located hlstorrcally

in factors such as the long tradltlon of kln-focused collectlvlsm and
Ihe authorrtarian family structure. Accordrngly, China's rullng class
welcomed Confuclanlsm, slnce ItS hlerarchlcalldeology met the needs
of the feudal rulers and served the feudal system well. Depending on
the persona lit y of each ruler, thls led elther to a highly centrallsed state
wlth absolute control over the Individual, or lO a sltuation of chaos, as
seen though the collapse of one dynastlc house and its replacement
wlth another. Before the Chlnese Communlst Party (CCP) came to
power in 1949, 'collectlvism' was stressed as part of military discipline.
Chlna's history 01 denying the value of Indlvldualism enabled a cultural
climate that was conduclve to the Marxist criticism of indlvldualism.
Under Mao, state-focused collectivism predomlnated and Maolst
China became deeply hostile to individualism, denouncing It as
contrary to the new soclalist soclety. The Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolutlon (1966-76) saw the individual entrrely strrpped of personal
freedom; everythlng - home life, work units, movement, education
- was controlled by the Party. 'Indlvlduals' were expelled lrom the
party, or labelled as negative elements. In the post-Cultural Revolution
era, writers and critics started to crrticlse the revolutlon byappealing
to universal humanrty, although such critlclsms were eventually
quashed. 13 Chinese philosopher and journalist Wang Ruoshul argued
that society should be seen as the aggregation of individuals, not as
something more important than Indlvlduals, in contrast to the position
stlll promoted by the Party, in which the people are subordinate to
society, whlch itself is represented by the Party. Wang proposed that
the rejection of humanlsm was a key cause of Ihe brutality and chaos
of the Cultural Revolution and advocated Ihat the CCP, rather than
1,001 Chllll:'!vmnora. 1.00 1 e p/ln1 a
PfOlecJ 101' Oot:umt'fua 12. Kasael.

GennQlly2007
dlsmlssing humanism as a 'bourgeois concept', should embrace the

unlversallty of human nghts. In 1983, leading to hls denunclatlon by
the CCp, he wrote: 'There is a ghost hauntlng the vast expanse of
China, "Who are you?" "1 am humanity. "' "
Sunflower Seeds is a powerful metaphor for the precanous nature
of Indlvlduallsm and collectlvlsm: each seed is a unique obJect among
the 100 million seeds, yet one seed IS identical to or synonymous wlth
the whole. In the work, Al seems to pose multl-faceted questions : are
we trying to achleve a Single collectlve way of thlnkmg? Do we really
want the state of mdlvidual freedom that people make so much of
today? What are our shared human values? What does it mean to be
an Individual in today's society m which televlslon, computing and
information networks have changed the way people relate to each
other so that there are fewer 'mdlvldual altitudes and methods or
unique attributes'?" Are we actually inslgnlflcant, or powerless, unless
we act together? What do our Increaslng deslfes, matenalism and
number mean for soclety, the environment and the future? What IS
the modern condltlon?
Asked on TWltter In June thls year why he sleeps so IIttle and has
so much energy to communlcate, Ai responded: 'As soon as I think
that one fifth of the world's population are still not considered to be
individuals, I am unable to sleep.' " For Ai, the value of IIfe lIes in
'the interpretation of and act of Interprellng both IIberty and nghts'.
He questions a system of government in whlch there IS no public
transpareney and which proJects a false image of peaee and prosperity
- in Ai's words, a ' fakesmile',
Shortly after the Siehuan earthquake, Al posted this statement
on his blog: 'Totalitarian cnmes onginate from denying individuals
the value of their IIves, avoidmg reallty and refuslng responsibility.'17
A number of hls artworks and socially engaged projects have since
called for the dlfect participation of individuals m an attempt to take
small steps to change China's embedded strueture. For example,
every year, on the anniversary of the birthdays of each child who
perished In the Slchuan earthquake, AI's team posts the students'
detalls on TWltter as an aet of remembrance, N/an is a recent largescale audio work related to thlS, in whlch Ai recrUlted thousands of
on-lIne partlcipants via TWltterto recite, record and up-load the names
and details of those children and young people, For Ai, the least
do IS to remember ol1e name. Earlil'r UlIS \ ,',lI. 011 TWltt 1,

everyonecan
. te
netusersto's
he asked Chlnese m
r ,l OUtI'Ollll"'l11t,'I,ltt\ 1 \"
I ,"
.
mous
\wee\s
Although
1\ 15 pott)ntIJlI
sendlng a n o n y .
bl
ph 0re1
Chlnese TWltter users to put thelr realldentltles in th pll IC.
,
the response was overwhelmlng.
that C811lie,S 011 th
Falrytale 2007 IS another signiflcant
Individual (1Igs.11-13), AllI1vited 1,001 Chlnese 'tOllIlS\S. as he
relerred to them, to 'colonise' Kassel, Gerlllany, ler the 2007
Documenta. Asked about the chOice 01 the nUlllbsl 01 particlpants,
Al Welwel responded:
The choice IS due to the lact that what we really want to emphasize
is '1', not '1001'. Each partlclpant IS a smgle person, and thal's why
our logo IS 1:1000 - that means that In this project 1001 is not
represented by one proect, but by 1001 projects, as each
mdividual will have his or her own Independent e penence. "
But there is also a paradoxical element to Sunflower Seeds. What does
it mean to be an individual 111 Chma's current politlcal and economlc
sltuation In whlch materialism seems to be growing a\ the expense 01
humal1lstlc values? How can people cope wlth the duality 01 capltalist
liberalism and a very old Communist structure? Global capitalism. which
celebrates the Ireedom 01capital and the new liberalism within China,
has emphasised economlc success over lundamental values such as
the environment, education , SOCial standards and morals. Political
slogans like 'scientllic development', 'harmonious society' and
'advanced socialist culture'20 are wldespread in contemporary China
and used by the CCP to help mamtain a stable social order In which the
economy can grow.21 As Chinese scholar Richard Baum has recently
noted, the CCP is a party whose 'ideology is one 01 power, the defense 01
power and by extension , the delense ofthe existing system' .'" However,
this desire for 'harmony' and defence of power in China comes at the
cost of an open and transparent society, one in which 'human values ...
not Western values, but values developed lrom human struggle', as Ai
speaks of them, are not openly discussed or allowed to freely exist."
As Ai often remarks, he is a Chinese citizen with strong feelings lor
his country and does not criticize It without reason. He has lived through
the past thirty years 01 'Relorm and Opening Up' in China that began in
1979 wlth Deng Xlaopoing's economic reforms, although he states that
politically there have not been significant changes " As the Chinese
government contlnues to maintain a one-party system, Ai has dedicated
his lile to questlonlng such power structures, seeking increased liberty
and encouraglng indlviduals to take active responsibility: 'society quickly
develops Into two levels: a hlgher level who just want to maintain stability
and make a blgger proflt and be stronger, and the general pUblic who
don't leel capable 01 belng Involved' "
The expandlng population, the Increasing wealth and the desire
th,s spawns, the limlted natural resources and the environmental
consequences, are all presslng Issues for Ai, as are the effects of
materra"sm and commerclalism . The new economic liberalisation In
China may be changlng the way In whlch pea pie live and shape thelr
"ves, but wlthout Ireedom 01 expression, at what cost?
Glven Chma's rapld economlC expanSlon , growing affluence m
c rtarn levels 01 soclety (although equally, growmg dispanty), It is
polgnant that lor Al sunllower seeds represent a common street snack
shared wlth Inends . a mmlmal rngredlent that 'constltuted the most
e sentlal needs and deslt s' dunng a chlldhoOd of extreme poverty
und r Mao 's reglm . 'The empty sheUs al' husks were the ephemeral
Ir e sol SOC I aCtlvlty: the I SI common denomlnator 101' human
satisfactlon, I wond
erWhat
Although born In BelJln
WOUld have h
O'
9 In 1957
aon...
,Al sPent hl ..... 'O"',tl),:
ongbel and later In XlnJian I
S
n remole No
eh Idh",," IJ...
Olng, a famous poel and
rth1'10. -vo 1, """,
at
one
t
d enounced as a 'rightiSI' a
Ime cOone ...t Ct
'll'n
d
..
Ihrou, gh labour' dunng Ih nc endured a seveClad to '.1a
I
R
re
r
O
"
'"
e
ullur
ab o lIsh Ihe anli-revolut
a eVolu"
" lleo,lb,..
lonary 'F
"00 M
"
Old Hablls and Old Ideas) usedOUr Olds' (Old C ao, " liS
Guard youlh movemenl I
Vlolenee Pe
iIlt",.",
o execuI th
'rSec
1
artlsls and educalors Th I
e e severe re
ana I uI",
,
' e s ogao I
Press,
floR
smash the old world, eslablish
o the CUltural P 000' "1e".,.'<I
readlng certaln books could h a new one', Ouno evo,",
AsAlrecalls'
aveledtolmp
9thls",- as
nsonrn'''':I
?r" -'''Y
"'al"
I had to help my lalher burn 11
artllacls, Anythlng related t ah Ihe bOOks aOd de

o umaolty
Slroy.,
a new world, and Ihis new World offer was deSlroyOd 111.
reconnecl our knowledge and I
s the oPPoJtunity ''''
v
o slartaoew '"
lo, Us to
Ih epas,
I ,ou have to know it lo d
"e are leam
' '91Jun.
"
estroy II Yo
somet hIng by belng an expert I I
, u can
d
ni.
estrOy
China IS a counlry whose people 10 Al'

,
'
, s Words, have h. __ ,
our own pasl , He has Increaslogly resPO d
""""
..._
, ,
,
n ed lo Ch ,
',,"
and sO,clal slluatlon In his eftorts lo uod t
Ina ScU"1lI1lOIi",-,
ers and and' d
'''4
coodihon',Allolthisclearlyhasabeanng h
a
00 's
-n._
',"
characler 01 Ihe Turbine Hall provldes an
'"
oPportuOIIy lo
whlch Ihe work, Ihe audlence and the place comb '
'an ever, ,Ine forthec ,
a slngularrty In whlch masses are confronted und
rea lOnot
ertempo,ery
Ihal allow a re-evaluatlon 01 our paradlgms','
-!loro
Aj's parcelaln sunflower seeds, as well as hls van
..
.
OUS works In the
same matenallncludlng children's and women's dres ses, plllars 011
spills, watermelons and exact replicas of vases in the styleOfvar:ous
dynasties, are produced In a speclallst reglon In China famed forrts
porcelaln production. Each life-size ceramlc sunfJower seed hasbeen
palienlly hand-sculpled and hand-pamted by speclaJosl. wOrk,ng.
small-scale workshops. The quanllty and scale 01 Ihe work echoestl1e
scale 01 Industrial mass producllon, yet the seeds have been producen
in 'cottage Industry' workshops using materials and technlques tha!
have a long history in China. As Ai has commented:
o
. ,
In the classlcaJ sense, porcelaln In China IS the hlghestart formo and

beJongs to the Imperial Court. Jn fact,lt's almost synonymous WIth
Chinese culture. My work has always focused on how to bnng oIdet
craftsmanshlp Into a contemporary context and how to create
use a new language. At the same time, I try to relnterpret artrfacts
from Chmese tradltlons and manlpulate Items from the
everyday modern culture. This has many Jayers 01 meamng. bl,rtll
the end the appearance of the work IS the mast Importanl

,
leadlng or lake, and"
The appearance can, 01 course, be very mis
the work always has to be attractrve. But It also has to be nal
2I
people ncad to feel naturally attracted by 1t.
d
Ku,HuaZI f,rslappearedPamted porcelaln sunflower see s, or
ed and pi ed
sculptural form In AI's oeuvre 10 2006. They were tlPP (1ig 141 AJ,5
d welgh1n9 1 tonne . --aA
up by hand to form a conlcal moun
ed het' he ,",U"however start IN
Intetest In workrng wrth ceramlcs.
.
9 Bel "'l S
d bagan sCDunn
lO Be'J,ng from New York In t 993 an
!Op,ng an eY"f'"
brother deve
anllQl,,es markets wlth hls young er
'h ....8f'lab0n5 lfI
Yuan, M'ng and O,ng dynasty ceram'cs .nd t e
aesthetic judgments - lorm, colour, scripts - made In each. Thls was

lollowed by a series 01 rectilied ceramic readymades such as Han
Dynasty Urn wJth Coca-Cola Logo 1994, the lirst In a series 01 such
Coca-Cola vases that he contlnues to make today (lig.15). More
recently, Al has used vases Irom the Neollthic age (5000-3000 BC),
dipplng them in industrial palnt (ligs.16, 17). Hls efforts to destablhse
notlons connected to the meaning and value 01 cultural artllacts has
led to hlm shattering valuable historlcal obects by dropping them
(Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn 1995; lig.44), smashing two Kangxl era
(1661-1722) bowls with a hammer (Breaking of Two Blue-and-Whlte
Dragon Bowls 1996), and grinding Neollthic pottery to dust (Dust to
Dust 2009). He has al so kept alive the historical technlques 01 liring
and controlled glazing by commissioning Jlngdezhen craftsmen to
create replicas 01 the instantly recognisable 'blue-and-whlte'
porcelaln (Ior example, in the style 01 the Qing dynasty, 1736-95),
and abundantiy producing useless organic lorms, such as
watermelons and sunllower seeds.
The prinCipie 01 critical mass and multiplication are leading
Chlnese concepts. Historically, the Chinese have produced works 01 art
in huge quantlties, Irom lifth-cenlury enlombed bronze artilacls; some
seven Ihousand terracolla army warriors; elevenlh-cenlury timber
pagodas constructed Irom over thirty Ihousand separalely carvad
wooden parts; and in the seventeenth and eighteenlh centuries,
Ihe export Irom China to the West 01 several hundrad million pieces
01 porcelain. 30 As Lolhar Ladderose points out: 'Because of their
melhods 01 produclion, Ihe Chinese were well preparad to f100d
Ihe enlire world wilh porcelain ... lar the first time, Europeans
experienced Ihe ramifications 01 mass production in China',31 For
Ihe Turbine Hall, over 100 million seeds, with a combinad weight
01 some 150 tonnes, have been transportad in container ships from
China to the UK. The seeds cover an aree 01 the Turbine Hall
measuring approxlmalely 1,000 square melres and have a depth

0110 eenlimelres. These vasl quanlilies clearly relerence Chlna's
eapablllly lor mass produelion and dlslribulion, bul Ihere IS an
underlying eommenlary, as Al noles:
China IS blindly produeing lor Ihe demands 01 Ihe markel ..
My work very mueh relales lo Ihis blind produclion 01 things.
I 'm par! 01 il, whleh is a bil 01 a nonsense. The sunflower seeds
can never be planled and can never grow, bul Ihe process 01
eonlinuously doing somelhing lha!'s nol really uselul in sueh
a massive way and lakes sueh a long lime and with so many
people involved relleels Ihose eondlllons."
Al lalks 01 Ihe 'useless' eondilion 01 Ihe seeds, Ihal Ihey have no
purpose and Ihal sueh effor! has been expended In crealing them.
'Uselessness' IS an Inleresling concepl In lerms 01 resislance to
h
prevaihng power struelures and can be traced baek Ihroug Al sed
expenenees and work. 01 hls lurnilure work, lor example, he remar!<
.
..
.
.
You don I know lIs usage, bul It'S made lo sueh a hlgh qua I w.1 f"'"
. .
d n't kno
"".
can t Ignone lIs purpose. Bul whal Ihe purpose IS, yoU o
It'S very Inleresllnglo pul a Iremendous effort or art or craltsmanshlp

Inlo somelhlng useless or even nameless' Promlnenllnlellectu Is and
artlsts were denounced as enemles 01 Ihe slale and Ihell skllls rendered
useless dunnglhe Cullural Revolutlon. Al has olten taken obJecls and
rendered them useless: lor example, a vlohn Ihat lurns Inlo ashov lor
Chlna's once ublqullous 'Forever' blcycles melded logelh ,In n
eternal circular lorm, Ihell luncllonahly gone (1Ig.18), In lhe producllon
01 hls exqulsllely made 'Iake' ceramlC vases al"d I10W Ir Ihe careful
producllon 01 Ihe sunflower seeds, Al bnngs t"lldlhonal skllls lhal
are deemed us less to moder ... lechnologlcal soclaly back Into
cont mpor ry pracllca The seeds Ihenselves are lurcllor Iy
use!
SII1Ce nolhlng n be
from them and they cannot off
auste nce yel m I phorcally tI' y flUgg I humar. Compas$lOP
Over!
IhIrty "ve years Al has con
soughllo d e!op
conceptual frameworl<s cofIaboraty proc
rt e patory even
ofogy pu
whlCh phIosopNcaI or thecltetJl:al
reconslered, exanl!ned ond
ufIV
thallndudes photogr
and
InSUI!l.r.E:lrt, ....
weI as turiI""'II, tllctrtecture, DUbI!sIwIO
@A
.....
....... ,.....,...
.7.
,t
Inl 1 t l. \ h \Slhl
IWW Und r
rule. every
I J Y IS ,1 de,lth onniversary. but

8 n rOom tor corps s.
009. 10A9:21
Iww When all Irulhs under Ihe sun are

your Irulh . you become an .lIuslon; you're
only nn xcus lor your own extSlence. The
ov rall Sl9n1llcance 01 lreedom 01 speech
15 lo say Ihal Ihe world Isn'l Itke Ihls; Ihe
world has lis own Image in each and
ev ryone's eyes.
5.7.2009
O.lww The concluding remarks are as
lollows: it's Ihese people. who don'l Itke
lo sleep al nlght. who endad Ihe lasl dark
age by hlttlng ]Ihe keyboard] wllh Ihetr
lingertlps.n lronl 01 Ihe screen. It should
be callad a mtracle.
2.8.2009,01 :45:55
ww 'Fr edom has always been the

'" 01 those who are dlfferent from
W'th or wlthout the Ireedom 01
yOl! won't have aday 01 pesce.
O.lww In China. non-govemmenlal

organlsalions are antl-govemment annour.
You should jusi slop prelendlng. 1saw
Ihrough your splrituaI armaments long ego.
2 8.2009.23:17:25
Oalww We're no longer upset Th.s syslem

has stnpped us 01 our nghl lo happiness,
and al Ihe same lime rt has stnpped of our
righl lo be upse\.
4.8.2009.21 :45.08
Oalww Whal Ih.s counlry needs lo do \he
most IS lo prave liS Innocence, lo prave Ita
legltlmacy. lo prove lis sanrty; \hase are
also what il lears Ihe mos\.
6.8.2009. 13:32:24
Oalww Sk.lls olllv.ng under lotaIltarian rule:
1. Don'I practiCe seIf-slavery and seIf-1njury
before being ensIavad and .njured. 2 Don'!
co-operale.
belleva.n bullshit from
\hose In power. 3. Have seIf-reapect, speak
lor olhers. 4. Don'l be a coward, don'! be
supersl.t.ous. 5. Be happy In \he days of
knowlng shame. 6. Do something 1IItIe.-y
dayto
6.8.2009, 14.39:25
.ww The system IS the rules. the

tlon5. and the poSSlb.ltty lor a
y 9 me What we have lo say lo lhe
menl IS 'Ws nol a probIem Ior you
be In power. bu! don'l chaat. H's no! a
omI>IM1 lor you lo be rotten. bu!
be
You can 1teaI. bu! nol In a dignlfled,
h oundlng manner. '
009
0.1ww 11 Tan Zuoren Is gullty. \hen I'm

al leasl equally gullty; 11 Tan Zuoren Is
..._
...... ..,. ....... ',
Tenor doeIn I come from

UId cruel v ' * - tenor
c:orn. fIum.1WIOUI1CIIng lfIInt IPIlftII/II
.... .... viOIeIa &lid
4 2OQ8
punlshed, 1should be punlshed undar

lhe SII118l1ne 01 reasonlng.
3 .8 2009,22:08'48
1WtZUafln .M'fIIrIiWlo...a.1I
dIIICf 01 ... .,....
.......
U,. . . .
..'..__.....=...
_ ......." , _ , . . . N . . . . . . . . . .a-
.... lIfol. .
0aIww We need 10 ene!

with our own hands We'1l ueelhlllldndd
horlour without heaitaIIon 10 av. . . .
shame, Ior our fathenI gil" " n_
fathars' fathenI'
reeIIty when we
10 thegenaatlol. thII foI ...
10.8.2009 19:28:08
.ot.
___ CrImII edil onIylOcItIIl 1geollll'

oourIQI Crtrne _1II . . . . a toPlOW
thII we 0lIl111 be hum:nlN1 lhIl we . .
1M'" 01 Nllltythllwete.t hopeto
. . . " ....... uIIt n"rwlllt......
.wn..
II"U"'" .....
Desplte Al Welwel's seemlngly unstoppable populanty on the

Internatlanal art scene, there is still a great deal 01 uncertalnty
In terms 01 hls relevance to the Chlnese art world, ItS hlstory and
market. The seant recognltion that he has galned in the Chinese
art system IS completely out 01 proportlon to the Immenslty 01 his
oeuvre, whlch ranges lrom beautllul concepts such as Falrytale
2007 (lIg.20) to powerful obJects like Map ofChma 2006 (1Ig.21).
For Frurytale, Al's contnbutlon to Documenla 12. he took 1,001
Chlnese people, whom he recruiled Ihrough hls blog, lo vlslI Kassel
dunng Ihe Ihree months 01 Ihe exhlbition, al hls own expense. The
vlsllors were accommodated In a lormer lexlile mili Ihal had been
Iranslormed Inlo a communal dorm. Not only dld Al deslgn Ihelr
beds. sheets, outflls and suilcases, whieh he had made in China,
bul he also broughl along his lavourile local cooks lO prepare dally
meals lor them. The proJect cosl a mlnd-blowing $4.28 mllhon. He
also Iransported 1,001 Olng dynasty wooden ehalrs lo Kassel, whleh
were scattered Ihroughoul Ihe exhlblllon siles (1Ig, 19). Map of Chma
was made 01 tle/ wood Irom dismantled temples 01 Ihe Olng dynasty
(1644-1911), a malenal Ihal Al has used lo creale a number 01
InSlallallons and sculplural works.
Bul desplle such accompllshmenls, In a recent exhibition held
In BelJlng enlllled Reshapmg HIStOry, whleh was meanl lo be an
hlsloroc sUlvey 01 Chlnese art produced wllhln Ihe lasl deeade, Al
was CO/"splCuously omltted Irom Ihe IIs1 01 over Iwo hundred artlsts
In Ihe show. A partlal explanation eould be Ihal Al's praetiee lalls
lO lil Irlo Ihe n:lScenl narrallVe 01 recenl Chlnese art hlSlory, whleh
I IruClured nround sueh eategones as 'eynleal reallsm', 'polltleal
pop', 'k:tsehy art' 'conceptual pholography' and 'eartoon art'
Tr e 'mover-ents' dld nol emerge out 01 any artlsllc or polllleal
bellels, bul w r "lan-m3de by a small group 01 art enlles, curalors
8nd 9 11 rl ts wN>sa ,nterests were bound together In sueh sell-
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M/I/'O'CIlJntJ ;'004
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(1tl44 '!JII)
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160pagll!l,13. 18cn
In t 993, the ba. SIC shope oJ
Irt WfJrlcJ
and Joes Wlt h In ti had already b, On lorm IIllh'(mlr

l i ' A lr
had to searc h for a new entry POlnt Inln Ihf I 1 JI/rm tu r!Jt!.lrl Al
""".tu,
dldn't come easlly.

mld t990. 'W 11, O<' k
,avan t gard e a rt 15
t s ' W h ose wOrk w InlnrJ
r,11I 10
In I Pt
and ideological Ilght and Wa'i CJ<1 ln1 nq Wld'" pr.
'fU'
I(J P'ru
recognltlon . Followmg !he China/Av "lt (,If(j,
h
rt
.
fl,l Ibrll(,
student movement In
1989, !here W,l k 'lO! (lff(:4"
.
llfld
J
of access to exhlbttlon SplC85 md IUn(jlnfl lar aUfJI;r)(t In I
:."
rn'ml trmtc.'PtI.!
contemporary art pracllcas ThfJ aCial ehrn.IIr, Ww COnMfvat

alert to anythlng that dld not ConJorm to Ihq trlc'Olo< 11 "
Ilq leo
of the state, creatmg a helghlen(j d level 01 IImSIOn b"llI
IJ'
contemporary art Clrele and tha stillrt Ihroughf)ut 1111} l!f
. h
j,
Al e ose nol to subscnbe lo Ihe eXISllng
bIJIIllO'Nf'
developed his own Individual Sy5tern Iha! was IOQ' hr.:aJJy, Ilrt t
and Intellectually Independent of mamSlre 1m pr"":renc" lr.1
practlces, He. funded hls Own produCllons Ihrouqh
helped establtsh an art space, selJ pubh$hod htll wOCI<s, btJil
team, created a clrcle 01 artlst fnend whom he IUfJported wIth
and fundlng, and courted attentlon tar
through ICtlvlty
contexts In which to act and be vIsible, From 19'34 lo 1997.
edlted the Black Caver, Whlte Caver and Grey Covr" bo<>i< h
independently pubhshed comptlatlons of artlst InINVI8W1 pro
texts and theoretlcal reJerences (1IgS.22-4). ThflS8 gave VI:
only to Aj's thlnklng and wOrk, bul olso to lhat 01 h" peeo inCI
Xu Blng, Huan9 Yong Plng, Geng Jlanyl and Olan Welkan<
In t997, Al JOlned the Dutch artlst and curalor Hans van Ilij
establtsh the China Art Arch,ve and W"rehouse ICAAWI "Be>
CAAW contlnued Van Dljk's dlllgenl work 01 bUilding up 111
01 materals relevant to the artlsts wlth whom CAAW worked
supported and organlsed exhlbltlons featuflng 8 younger _rirr
of artlsls from dlfferent parts of China who otherwl&8 recetved
exposure Slnce Van Dllk's death In 2002, Al has been
as CAAW's artlstlc dtrector and ha. kept It as 8 space""
m3lnstream lastes and preferences.
In 2000, AJ co-curated wlth
basad curato< FenQ"",. . . .
minal exhlbctloo Fuck Off, whose Chlnese tJtle
Ways oJ Non-Cooperatlon' or Uncooperat ve Appr
offiCiaI
was a deliaOl gestur. 01 reJusaI to compIy w1t/1
represenled by tIle Shanghal B,ennal. whlCh
at!llt
bme and Slgnalled a crucllll lurnJng polnl In Ihe government's attltude

n
lowards conlemporary artoIrom one 01 releclio n and suppresslo to
one of acceptance and aSSlmllatlon. Thls conscloUS and courageou$
chOice to re51st associatlon wlth established Clreles and powers In
the art world has ensured AI's reJectlon and excluslon from many
exhlbltlons and posslbllllles offered by the local art system. From the
very beglnnlng. he has expenenced the extreme difflcultles. yet also
the power, of devcloplng hls Qwn lndependent platform.
It IS Interestlng to observe how. In hls approach to reasserting and
legltlmlSlng hls presence In the art world 01 hls own country. Al dlffers
lrom mosl 01 hls peers who have shared the same expenence 01
1"""9 abroad and returmng In recent years to China. Many have opted
lor ce:lalnty rather than operatlng on an Indeterminate ground as
Al10eS Most Ihese artlslS left China in the 1990s. dlsllluSloned
and dr;Wstfc 01 a syslem that has changed IIttle slnce. Today. they
seem SO eager lO eomply wilh the system that they slmply throw
"leIveS al lIS merey Some have taken up promlnent lobs in the art
emres Othen; make works that glonfy rts polrtlcs. Still more have
ne<. ''''' governmenl-sponsored Contemporary Art Academy
C na CAACl. whlch was lounded In 2009 and now has thlrty
he slgclficance. danger and paradox 01 this event IS lar
'han It may at Ilrst appear. The lact that these 'academy
'15 were unam,",ously among those classllled as outcasts by
!IT1E! government In the early 1990s should not be lorgotten.' The
apee ess and tolerance 01 the government as demonstrated
by
1I1al body should be Interpreted with alarm. yet is
accepled 1 d welcor.'ed wlthout question by these artlsts who
Oled
IOOependence and cntlque 01 such a system. Far
Irom
ng
VICIory 01 art In Chlnese soclety. thls landmark event
In I
""1arl<s ti"
corrOSlon and loss 01 artlstic autonomy to the
ts of tt'oritanar power
n.s shift ., \he '-'mate makes Aj's pOSIllon even more precanous
aoo
too yet
ra110!he heaJlh 01 the art system. Hls prolrlie
, dt;:X aU5Uble practlee IS 'llany senses a model. pnmanly
and posslblhty 01 rndependenllhlnklng. As
vol his wOfks n
he eollages. breaks. repalnts.
26.27
AJ Werwel and s.ge Sprtztr
Ghosf Gu ConNng Oown me
Mounl.un 2005
BIue and vmte porceIaIn 96 vasos.

each 27 JI: 35 cm (dlamlilte1
"'''''''' 313
Instanaoon at '" W8!we1', studlO, 2000
AJ's trunklng and acbons and has contlnuously prompted hlm to pose
questlons to the Chlnese government, perhaps the best iOlormed
ond most seeretlve 01 all
When I r,mt met Al In hls studlo early In June thls year, he
remarked: 'Most people don't really know and undemtand what I
do T),S was not false mOdesty, but a genuine statement that dld
not s:..rpr'se re at all. Many people in the Chlnese art world share
a certaln scepticlsm towards Al and hls multlpllcity 01 roles and
PIOIec'S n 2lAl8, he Inltiated a clvillnvestigatlon Into the numbem
J n:: 6$ ':)1 tre Ilve thousand or more chlldren killed In poorly
led schC'ol building S during Ihe Sichuan earthquake.
7!aJn Ch
artlsts. a number 01 Ihem hnked lo Ihe so::;m' group, asked whelher Ai's investlgatlons were
by a pOllllcal party in arder lo undermlne Chlna's
m I Accordlng to Ihis view, Al IS JusI a couner lar
nda, Complylng wlth such a role in arder lo
pOrtfollo Bcd social stalus.
I '0
Ilse Ihal Ihe Chlnese social system, a system
rru,llon rd lacklng In transparency, lalrness and
al I
to Ire death 01 Ihose school children in the

e had Bn equally devastating elteet In any other
na lo lhe fundamental problems 01 comuptlon,
IC'f human lile that IS appmently prevalent In
mm
entries were loaded wlth Images Iromhis Iravels, opemngs.

and gathenngs wlth Inends. To many In the Chinese art world. anytn
Al does IS dismissed as an opportunlstic way lo gam Vlslblhly for t;1TV
artistic career, especially as it gathers Increaslng momenlum and
welght internationally. Many people slmply stop at such an
wilhout looking any closer into the actual practlce and detall of A, s
work. Like the social temperament out 01 which it grows, Ihe Splnt 01
the Chinese art circle is not one 01 independent cnticahty, but IS an
extremely simplistic and distorted lunctionalrst one: It racogmses and
identilies with success, as well as breedlng prolesslonal envy and
bitterness. In such a perspective, Ai's outspoken commentanes on
political and social issues are vlewed as leedlng into Ihe celebratory
status that he enjoys in the Western media and the mternatlonal art
scene. Thanks to the inleriority complex 01 the contemporary art sen
in China, whose commercialisatlon and Industnalisatlon was Imtlatoo
and supported by the Western market that now consumes It hke a
new regional cuisine, Ai's success story agonises those who 10nQ
to be accepted by the West yel al Ihe same lime are deeply lealOU5
01 those who achieve Ihis. II is no wonder thal Ai should say that the
art world, operating around su eh limited and limitlng premises, 15 too
small lar him. For someone like Ai, who moves fluldly at the top leve! al
the international art scene through exhibltions and conlerences, t
sky is the limil. His studio is one 01 the most viSlted destlnatlons
the inllux 01 curators, journalisls, museum directors and
arrive Irom everywhere in the warld. The lact that the world haS
to Ai and that Ai takes it so lightly is a source 01 Irustratron lor r,ose
seeking similar status withln the Chinese art world.

lec!
.
.
d complica
Al also knows that there IS rnore to the thorny an
ed
b en portray
.
.
re Iat lonshlp between art and politlcs than has e
sr1
i Chlnase
d eflned and taken for granted in the recent hlstory o
There hasn't been a single moment when art hasn't been laken
hostage by politlcs In China. It has been modelled as nn effecllve
propaganda tool slnce Communist rule, and is still tlghtly controllud
and steered lowards political calculallon. At the end 01 Ihe Cullur,,1
Revolutlon, artists clalmed to have taken art back Inlo Ihe" own
hands, only 10 unconsciously or consciously adapt I1 lo another
purpose. It was employed as an uncomplicated expression 01
anger, dissalislaclion and deliance lowards governmenl control,
1 ,\ .
a seemlngly avant-garde attitude. Yel as soon as such a cnlical

gesture became markelable and was qUlckly consumed both by Ihe
markel and Ihe polilical machlne ilself, II became an emply sigmller
Ihal merely made visual and Ihemalic references lO all kinds 01
polillcal symbols and icons wllhoul louchlng upon Ihe lundamenlal
Issues or Ihlnking analytlcally. Indeed, artlsts seem almosl lO have
losl Ihe" abilily lo Ihink independenlly, habltually laklng cnlicality
as a mere posture 01 artislic Ireedom . This reality depnves art of
ils abilily lo conlemplate and sland ilS own ground.
II al so makes Ai appear excruclatlngly alone in hls soberness
and relusal lo conluse the klnd of superficial pohllcal engagement
and posilion-Iaking lactfully made by many Chlnese artisls in their
artworks wllh Ihe nolion 01 true pohlical arto Yel hls perslstence In
communicatlng his vlews openly through Ihe Inlernel, I"st on hls
blog, until il was lorcibly shul down by Ihe aulhorilles, and now
Ihrough Twitter, has attracted hundreds 01 Ihousands 01 people,
especially Ihose 01 a younger generallon, lO his Ideas.
Communicatlng Ihrough Twitter ler elghl hours a day has been
described by Ai as a lorm 01 schoohng that he enacts lor Ihose
Ihal lollow him. Thls is remlniscenl 01 Ihe posilion laken by Joseph
Beuys, who can be seen as an Important precursor lo Ai's work.
As Jan Verwoert has commented:

.
I
Whal does have a sigmllcanl beanng on Ihe pollllcs 01 Beuys'

overall practlce is his adoplion 01 a speaking pos Ilion Ihal IS
inexlricably bound lo Ihe articulalion 01 certaln Ideas preclsely
because Ihls position IS Iradilionally luslllied by Ihese ideas.
Ihe posilion 01 the messlanic speaker whose mythlcal aulhonly
is luslified and aulhenlicaled by Ihe Invocallon 01 Ihe Idea 01
primordial heahng powers. The use 01 Ihe concepl 01 healing IS
Ihus synonymous wilh Ihe crealion 01 an unqueslioned - and,
by virtue 01 lis superior juslilicallon, also unquesllonablepos ilion 01 power'
Those who wrile lo him on Twitter, lollow hlm on TWltter. answer
his calls lor sponlaneous lunch or dinner meellngs wllh lellow TWltter
users, and join his campaign lor voluntary activlst acts. help contnbute
to Ihe lormalion 01 a nelwork around Al and hls philosophy. Through
Ihis ever-growing nelwork 01 conlacts, Al spreads hls reflecllons 011
bolh currenl alfa and humanily, as well as news aboul hls lalesl
legal and artisllc pursulIs, and dislribules documenlary Illms Ihal hls
sludio has produced Independently, whlch would be ImpOSSlble lo
circulale Ihrough normal channels. The more pecple lisIen lo hlm. Ihe
more cloul he gathers. TWltter becomes an Importanl means 01 social
orgamsation Ihal presenls a lormldable amounl 01 human power ond
pohllcal polenlial. Wllhoul belng endocsed by any aulhonlan.1n order.
Al occuples a poslllon 01 power Ihal many pecple look up lo He h,s
slngle-handedly crealed hls own syslem, which does nol look lor
approval and acceplance bul challenges Iho establlShmenl Throuqh
Ihls regular manoeuvnng Wllhl!1 Ihe eslablishmenl. now olmosl a
slaple In hls everyday lile. he subjects hlmseij bOlh lO Iho opol" hl
"S
Ov r th I t lew years, Al Weiwei has successlully carned out a

number 01 pectacular proJects that have cemented his unique positlon
In th
warld, both wlthln China and internationally. Few visual artists
can eount mong the" works activities as diverse and ambltious as
con nbullng to the design 01 the National Olympic Stadium in Beljing
(h B"d's Nas\') (flg.38) or Falryta/e (lig.37) lor which he took 1.001
Chl
peopla and the same number 01 antique chairs to Documenta
12 n Kasse1, Germany. Then, in 2009, he covered the lacade 01 the
H u d r Kunst In Munich with 9,000 backpacks spelling out a
plxefat lament lor the schoolchildren who had died in the Slchuan
rthquak ayear earlier ('She lived happily lor seven years in thls
wor1d R membering, Ilg.36). In !he aftennath 01 !ha! ca!astrophe, Ai
w
trumental In a protest campaign to highlight the corruption that
Ied lo lnadequately built schools collapsing whlle other buildings
around !hem remalned relatlvely undamaged.
ng th names 01 these victims and publishlng them on hls
g ned Al more recognltion in China than any 01 hls prevlous
.....'....,' Mor recognlllOn, but also trouble: the blog, one 01 the most
pOpUlar n China, was closed down on 28 May 2009 and Ai, who was
n by pollee when he went to testily on behalf 01 an actlvlst' In
C
u Sichuan, later needed emergency hospital treatment lar a
t Iy I I cer bral haemorrhage. At the time, Ai was in MUnlch,
w
pr p rlng So Sorry, his exhlbitlon at the Haus der
own TWltter coverage Irom hospital, the artlst calmly
th cam ra whlle blood seeped Irom his cranium into a
on h bed (tlg 39) The Internatlonal headhnes tollowlng
hollPlt"itl8tlon contrIbuted to the almost hystencaJ Interes\' In hlm
10 11 nol more 10 as en Intellectual and a SOCial and
poIitllClll'.lV1ntn1on1'dIOl And rarely has en artlst
more wllhng to
COInmunleat.. Al apanda hours every day onllna Interactlng with
lIoll., and by em I In addltlon to the tace-to leca
CMI....qIy gtves to news med 01 apeclallat lit
ptOjeCt whk:h he la engeged
01
to lit ene 01 !he
workln!he
"ello IDI boIh 01 hII
...........,. "1INI'katl.,..
0......
"_01
...
In man wa\s. Ihe cnhc 11

'0..1 h lo At'a w",k 1"",,,, Ih
'<!Cepl,on 01 conlempo'ary Jrt hu",
!
were sel ,Ih Ih I"SI wa e 01 Ch",
ID'" '" '"
," 11
1
Impact. In particular the pa1nters f vnl 11, 111 111 m(1 IX11111 11 '1111'
,n Ihe early 1990s. The" 'rof1fC ,f pohl" 11!V 'flb'l/ff"lf ", ni
'delou,ned' Mao memo'ab,ha md. oc' l1t"1 H ,It.1 k,l'I h ",,1 ""Iy
used the language 01 Pop ilrt
un ""porle<1 "'O' j,pnl i" 11m" .Iyl' IoIV
amb,yalenl mlX. bul also spok di' tly lo W .Ipff' tJI! 1m ""1
cnl,es. In Ih,s. they were e pertly 'P,I..!" .1. upply,n!] ",,,<I,wl Ih 11
met o, generaled a keen del11nnd ,n the W I r. 111 Iv. 1111. ti, '" 11111 w
due lo Ihe mar1<elable qua"t, of Ih w ,I<.! (p ""I,nq,. 111 '<!Q 1" .1
the 980s patnltng boom ,n Am n II,d [urop. w, I IP"l1l1 ""1).
partly lo the way ,n wh'ch Ihey conhm,ed IN lu"
,,,ti
,1 was lell. were art,sls who crll,c,s d Ih r "" from Ih '" .trl
mock,ng bolh Ihe reslncl,ye pr
< of Ih Culltll ,1 H vnlu""" ",ti
Ihe newly ,nlrodueed cap,la"sl markel refo"n< Ih 1I ti In
,,,1
commod,ty cullure and ,ncreas,nq soc,ol "'tlQU ,"Iy WI1d1 lT1 1'1 Ih,. "
"""1'
not
much that the no
of Ch/I,.......
writtng on Al Ifld COI oter\1IOIWY CtIII_, lit
lafI!!
a.. but . . . thIIt thIV _.-andtD n'_1I!I

natural fIICt
..
:::::
odd combIIlIIIIon of lit ilcll'"
to
n Mullaln 01 estabhsh hegemony ovel one anolher 15 crucial, AS 15 Ihe

1l1\ltUflllt\ Inherent In Ih very con5tructlon of lhe concepl5 'West' and
'Chln" 'E\h'tl
and Soclety recreates lis Olhers.. Sald wrote .
, nd toda\ for us thls means China Ult S199, a Chma expert and
plan l1ng collector, achnowledged that wlth raspeet lO contemporary
Ct'u nese fut 1I \Vas 'e\traordlnarily dlfflcull lO capture thls dlmenSlon
e nceplllalh though I ",ould argue tha! 1I IS nol so much a problem
of
degrea of dlttlclIlty as ot tha fundamental way In whlch one asks

Cultural cnlle Rey Chow Identlfled thls as the 'elhnlc
sllpplem ,)t' Tho collectlve habll of supplementlng every maJor world
one 's
h nd wlth Ihe notlon of Chlnase"
11
19 the result 01 an overdetermlnlng
01 hlstolle.,1 Idctors, the most crucial of whlch IS the hngenng,
hegemony of Western culture

rhe late Slovenlall Curnlor and wnter Igor Zabel encapsulated
thls dllemmn In clem nnd simple lerms: 'In Russla
being a
contempomry m1lsl" means lo represent Wastern culture
In the
West, on the other hand, a Russlan artis! must Inevltably represent
Russla e lelhngly, he ni so drew attentlon to the lact that thls
clJltural tmtflc inevltnbly flows In both directlons. Taken together.
Ihe nbove dnnlysls sets out how the concepts of China and the
West mutunlly ramlores eoch other's separateness and thell" own
respective essentinhsm
Al, who left BeiJlng promising to turn into aChinase Plcasso,
dlscovered Duchomp and Warholln New York. 1e Phlfosophy 01
Andy Warhol was, by hls own admisslon, the flrst book In Engllsh
he rend, '" nnd nmong the many thousands of photos he took In New
York, there is one of hlrn carefully adopting Warhol's pose, as If
testlllg out his role model's Invariably cool altltude (flg.41). Al's New
York homage lo Duchamp sUltably took the form of an aSSlsted
rendymode: o simple wlre coal hanger bent into the outllne 01
Duchomp's face (flg.40). Wlth these two towenng figures of
twentleth-century art, Al chose role models whose relevance is not
restncted to ony objects they produced or put forward as arto but at
leost as much due to thelr worklng practlces and ways 01 thlnklng
The twelve years he spent In New York were not easy. After
outstnyfng hls stl/den! Visa, he only obtalned his resldency permlt
towards the end of hls stay In en amnesty following the Tlananmen
prolests. and spent much 01 hls time working in odd jobs and
hnnglng out wlth fnends and fellow Chlnese artlsts and Intel1ectuals
Thinking about lite and art mattered most, partlcularly glven how
dlfferent the climate In New York al the time was from what he had
..., 1013
* lIftr9Ir
.211 cm
expenenced in China.
'of
It
......,.".. -Ida,I.lIg
MU)tIUI'I
poN by Afldv
f Mod.tn At1. NI'tW Yotk
,.,. 'IbtIt'lho'of.tvhl, "HI:l- 1'1'1"1
Ouchamp s/'owed me a way

jusI out 01
eatastrophe bu! out 01 Ihe Cruel tea ty 01 N
matena sm, ts appal ng an and
bus!
showed me another POSSlblhty e that art
Duchamp showed that an IS 8<'gag "9 wlt thehe
lhere 1$ always more than ene way 01 doing
Idea
clea'
the Ireedom 01 m10d OI'e develo
lIe
PSIh
k
Is much more .mponant than the lorm 01 e Press
A. thus lound m Ouchamp an alternatove not
commerclahsm 01 Amenean cunure In general bu! 5Pt!Cif,,,,,,,
then Vlnually uncontested re.gn 01 the mat8l1a1 Obiect
w.thout entorely d.sm.ss.ng the oblect however ""
attent.on to the 'potent.ahty oloblectS' and not en
,....
as the Ilgure single-handedly respons'ble lor al suoseQuo..
developments In arto bul. .n an .ntngu1Og reversa! 01 !he tracilllor_
pos.ted dorection 01 t,aff.c ol.deas Irom the West to
Ouchamp as belng more al home .n Oao.sm !han Wes1ern
'Ouchamp's success was Ihe moment 01 enllQhtenment
that art was a pan 01 hle 1 see h.m as a k.nd 01
don't know exacUy whal Oao.sm means - Or a k nd 01 ...........
Weslern contemporary arto Everyth ng that canve after ..""". .'"
caused by h.m
Al .s here p aymg an mterestlO9 game
own b.ography and w Ih Ihe Irad.t onal convenbons
Daois1"""" ,,",-
apprent.cesh.p by as rt were attempt ng to rescue

Western d,scourse. Thus h s Irequent comlTlet'lts about
Warhol and Ouchamp as r $ "lasters are ba nced
assert.ons to the effect that he d d nolleave Beot ng Ior
all, but ralher lO escape poi loca repres$1Of1 Pn!clSeIy
pOlntedly denylng
e1lSI9"<.9 ," Ir v
'There are no dlHerenc9S Ir' a ar '1 I
11
equal. Dlfferences ont/ (,OrTI9lnlcJ f.o. I '1 J C
IS a way of seelng Ihe lIorl'l , 11
',r I J
and much more.' E:quall / f.o':> nt'ld I t t
York he nellher fell eonnec,IDd JlIII It
collectlons 01 Iradrtlonal ChinaS'> Drt rr tJ JI (. ,.
agaln emphaslslng hlS Indlllcl Jal
So what IS one lo make 01 Al 'Jr 'JI' r ;

characterrstlcally Chlnese forros 01 lra) "
started worklng wlth speclahsed C,ril rr
clear consequenee ' by Instructmq th
produce obJects of Ihe besl qua'" I ar ,)
respective tradltlons, he relmqursherJ a '.er!
the obJect, even though he IrlVarrab I mad!! tI!! I

Ihe norms and expeetallons of the tab t tJ
respecllve crafts. Most eruela". the J.r) st ed C)bJec
lacked geslure. The perlectlon of e'r.oert I pplied ,lIdlliOrlral
means that the oblects derr fTlOI'e romantJc r9ading9 _D'...II1Ied
wlth the trace of the art.st's hand Th s coo n $
his dlscovery, through Ihe art of Duchamp ancJ Jagper
value oJ apprec.aling emollonal detachmenl Uf Jnd/1I.,
foreground.ng ratlOflal Ihlnk.ng mar lhe 9lCPfeM4On al .mallOn.
while Warhol's Factory seems almosl amateurithly _ - . .
by /IV loday
wrth Ihe operat.ons
WOIAd be
oc",,_"
furnrture pieces, Jor example as devoid of

Tabla wlth Three Legs 2009 (llQ 42) Al flrsI
01 Ihe re-crafted lop Ihat makes lile pteCe 100II
seamless lo.nl between lile distinct I*IS "*9Id
perfect craflsmanship Ve! this rIch dIrk
'S 01 courae lile
most r8C*ll
worn and acufIed 1owW . . . . .
11
wiInMS 10 !he prwIouI 1YiCIIoI ... . .
/IV . . . . . _
oIC11h12OD1
!he WI'pIeAI!y "' . .

The worII illIIIrlIIY
lMigIIIaI
la_
Olearty Ihlnlla Il1COII\rovtrItblt Ohln ...n... rIght .,.

iI
01 Ihll work Ihe mlp iIHIf, IhllOlldlty 01 Ita lhIpt Ind.,. ... 011
WOOd 110m what could be 1IIOI'I1ppIQptI1te?
18mpa Yet IhI apeolal hlgh-qudly hardwoocI Iar .... llmpl.. hIII
111111 orIglnlUy bien Imported 110m 80uth Eut AIIa, \hUI fUrthtr
conlullng any limpie _
01 natIonaIldIntIIy In .,. rnap. And AI'I
oommenll about IhllI1II/IIngIIIIn 0I1hI gIIIuN, hII anp' 111.
on Ihe plQ08I8 01 COIII\rucIIon and lhI fiel \hit, u hI pul It, no _
d08llhl1 Iny more, IlId o"' lo _ Ihla objIot u muoh monl
nuanced InllMlntlon nIIher \han boId ..1.rtIon 01 'IIncoh1uvtn11m
1\8 Rey Ohow lanned lhI mobIlillllon 01. proudIy nIIIonIIIIiI trancI
among young InllllectUlla 1
AlI\Irted worklng wIth expIloltIy Ohl_ etlflctl, ortgInaIIy on
much Imlllar IOIle, Involvlng 1_ ICroblllo produotIon bu!
oonoaplUll1y no l1li chlUlnglng He lIId hI found Inaplra\Ion lar
Ihlle worke In Ihll period 01 cultural and ICOIaIl'IIdjultmant whan
he nllurned 10 BIlling In 1883. Scourtng antIquee markIII. hI_
.Iruck by Ihl numblr oll.k" and copl.. 01 fImouI arw.oa
III 1I
10 III
111., 111 IJI!I VI

"/1
tl(JfI
IbtJIJt tll
'II'JII I 'IU,II>'N/ rIIJI', HI' 1Ii,

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lis f)'IIn pllysleal and lemporal dlslnnce and
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IlIdllbl ,,1 Id'.ll1ess IS pelfel.!ly 111 keeplng Wllh Ai's expresSlon. Ancr
""U"I
I<JI 1 1" ,1
tIJe role played by Ihe 1IIIe 01 Ihe work: 'urn' 15 bolll
d 1<;1 IH 111 al 1,," 11 a11l1 one Ihat conlers SlleClllc valulls and
I
II '"I"lIbl 11 .. '11 111JIIJhle tlle poi lo which It JS applled It spllaks 01
alillillJJly ',1 IItlllllJslJ" uses In 'Iormer IJmes' I(respective 01 whelher
[11,1
llulllbnllc I hese connolallons and Ihe vlewer's
1,b' II1dllll1]5 abuut aulhenllcJly shatter al Ai's lee!.
,,,
I Ibally, 11I',ugll, Al JS toytng wllh nollons 01 identily and lully aware

IIlb 1""1 11181 I11U51 01 Ihe ob)eCI-based work he has produced so lar
lid' bllde(lup ablrlad In exl1lblllons and colleclions, where queslions
"t (,) 1111" llE:tiS artl Invnriably Asked nboul his work. While he has been
, 1,,<llt,,<I /lllh heing ona 01 tlle Il(sl nrtisls lo 'Iranscend Ihe China
1,IU6'"lliol,,' Ihe nalura 01 hi work menns thal elhniClty IS a measure
111011 " b"PS 1eing appliftd "alrytn/e was n perfoct example. On the one
IltllI" , Al hllllS611 played Ihe inlercultural exchange card, calling It a
'1II IIIIHlllbadylllAde, symbol lor the relatlonshlp between Easl and
VI""I' 1111 dl(jued Ihat 'becnuse one does not speak Ihe same language,
I '11 1111 IUI1II.,llion 15 qUila dlfferen!. Dlfficult, ves, bul possible.'''' On Ihe
(111 161 halld, Ile consiSlllntly staled Ihal Ihe most Important dlmension
lIt
,,1 lllti wnrk WdS how IhA 1,001
Chinese nationals, whose travel he

lill o1I1U"' illdlvJdunlly, experlllnced Ihel( slay in Kassel al Documenta
I IAnst CIIIICS, Ihough, loved lo locus on Ihal olher dimensiono
'A 11I'"lftn(loU5 transculturallmage -machine that shows us Our Own
I"II"I.IIQII ill Ihfl aylls 01 Ihe other' was the somewhat pompous but
IIl1ftll IIIly po',1 colonial angle 01 the Frankfurter AIIgemeine Zeitung. '"
I lul lli/I ytn/r 01',0 r caived the almost comlcally elhnocentric complaint
1I1o,IIII,tfkad vlslbillly, since Ai's guests 'were Indlstinguishable Irom
,," ... ll flSI<II,'lh, or th numorous curators and cntics Irom China, Hong
K'"Jl, ' 111I(jilp(Jle, nnd Talwan vislting the exhibilion. The exotic Other
W"', 1",111 la. dlffornnl nor Identiliable. '31
WltI ""JI 9 11 Clt spoctacularly ambitious proeels and the heated
Ihem, Ai would not have the slalus he enJoys
11' 'w NIJI wOllld ha r/lach the same diverse audlenees that lollow him
IWIII(j1 ,tJ1d 1" 111" art world, which allow him lo use his eloul lor
ti 11 '".Idl ",,,1 pollflcal engagement to which he is so commltted .
AII
1/"
5f1' V/j n aCial and potltlcal luncllon in Ihal it is Independent

,,"1 611 cnllcal
Thls is the most Important polificaJ attitude to
h v lotl y. b cause governmenls. nations, polillcal and economic
111 tltullan ,
well a8 educallon, lashlon all have powerful poltical
a 1 IInd 1IC0nomlC Interesls whlch normally dominale Ihe major
p rt 01 everyone'a lile This applies whether you're Asian, American
o, Europe.n '
, 111
A Conversation between Ai Weiwei, Juliet Bingham

and Marko Daniel, 31 May and 1 June 201 O, Beijing
JB The work that Vou've created lor

the Turbine Hall consists 01 millions
and ml:lions 01 porcelain objects
IndivlduallV hand-crafted and painted
to look uke real sunllower seeds.
In tenns 01 creating this landscape
01 seeds lor Tate, how were vou
Inking about the building and the
Turblne Hall space Itsel!?
A.W W
wOuld Ilrst thlnk about

I I ospac
because it's so unlque
nu
overwrelming, larger than
ost artlsts can 1111. For the Unllever
Senes, artists have taken very
diflerent posltlons wlth very dlflerent
ontentlons. It's always a challenge
lor the next artist to express hls Own
understanding through a work that at
the same time can make sense wlthin
thls space. We went through a lot 01
thlnking and dlflerent perspectlves,
but Ilnally we carne down to this.
We're very lucky Ihat we slarted
the research and producllon much
earlier. 01 Course, I never Imagined
then that It would reach Ihese kinds 01
quantities. We locused On thls Idea not
only because It challenges Ihe space
through Ihe number 01 objects bul also
beca use it oflers a more Psychological
and social meaning. So much 01 it
relates to what I've been doing On the
Internet, Twitter activitles, mobilislng
the social masses and seeing the
potentlal 01 Individualily. I have to
present a work that I really believe
in: It'S not just to please others, but
IS deeply rooted in my own practice
and Concerns. So I'm very happy and
convlnced by il.
work , It remlnds me 01 Why No!

Sneeze Rose Slavy?, tha bll(lcnq
contalnong what look like suqnr Cllb
but are in lact marble cubes , whlch
you discover when you try to hit the
cage: it's too heavy [llgA91 . It's , trlcky
ac!: you see sOmethlng that's not
what you thlnk - It's much mor WUh
the sunllower Seeds, there re muny
layers 01 meanlng People WIII try to
understand how It'S been mMe ,lnd
then what's behlnd 011 those nUlnber s
llike that part very much
111e work reflects On the loct tllat
each Seed is IndiVidual yet at the sa111
lime looks Identlcal to the other .
And when they're aCCumulnted in thls
large number, they become sOmoth1119
else. You sea It and yOU don't see It
because It dlsappears through this
massiveness.
MD When We saw the sunflower
piece in the studio it did look very
beautilul. What's the relatlonshlp
between the beauty 01 Ihe piece
and its political dimension?
AW Each seed appears as thls kind
01 beautilul grey, wlth the detalls
01 the white lines and the evenly
shaded grey cOlour, which are
often Considered very nice monlmal
tones, and whlch capture light and
shadow. Bul the meaning 01 the
work has nOlhing al all to do Wlth ItS
appearance. Il's very dlvlded. And the
1'1
M,IfteIO
...
se
'
Tlljo. PUl t
O':ouc
M.o,*
DuchJlll AllAGP p....

'!nd DAC.
'!dOn 2010
(PtIQlu tltQ
JB It's a visually subtle work, but also

incredibly powerful and thought_
provoking.
AW It has a kind 01 psychic power because
It'S so qUiet, It looks so minimal and the
space remains otherwise untouched.
Forstly, people wllI recognise that these
are sunllower seeds. Then they'lI start
to Understand that these are sunllower
seeds but nothong can grow lrom them:
they're all hand-palnted by Indlvlduals.
That wllI come as a shock. It's a klnd
01 mental game, Ilke In Duchamp's
ll1
dor:\tnndlng 0 1Ihe procefOos nlso
yooS
y011
111} Ilppemilnce. So whal

0919 nol what I1 means, And
Ir whot you ';oe IS no! Whallt means,

Ihall Ihmp's o 'IrUQgla lhera,
JU Thnl eonlrodlelion l. oflen
embodied In your work.,
AW 'fP'I,I!'SO bit
Und a
contrudlctlon, u self -ContradlctJon

oven, Ihallhe Work can destroy tself
1I C. ln osk qu t1ons, havea cartaln
cantont dnd a messnqe, bul al the
Si.lme time das1roy the meanlng. For
uxumple, In Ihe I Furnuure Senes'
11997 ongOin9],lhemak,ng, Ihe

malerinls and the aeslhellcs aU relate
lO elass'e Q,ngSlyla furn'lure, Bul al
lhe B:,ma llme, I COmplelely 'deslroy' '1
Or presanl 1I undar Unother condltlon,
AlIlhe pal'nas and lhe lo,nls are SO
perfeclly made lhal nobody can lell
years - We always had lh,

fnend
s secret
and We could aJways eal/III

you wenllo somebody's h __
would - al Ihal lime we d'dn'l havel
So
- JUsI sen,.e SUnflo wer
aII lalk and eallhem 11
..a
Wed
was PBrtylng
laughs] Th,s IS a really Slrong memory

01 Soc'ahsl SOc'ely 11 was SO ca
.
mmon
and everybody acceplad Ihem W'lh
many Ch,ne.. _pie, you'lI sea lhay
have a crack In thelr fronl teeth from
eallng Sunflower 5eeds. You WOuldn't
lh'nk lhallhis soft Ih,ng could really

make 5uch a crack there, but after you
eal thou5ands and Ihousands of them
lhey make a mar!<

MO It reminds me of 50ft water
hOIlOwing out a stone.
AW A S'nolog'sliN'kos Kazantzak,S],
pUbhshad a book 'n 1938 about h,s
If It'S the anginal or nOl, Or whal has
travels In China anct Japan. He saw
happened lo il, nol only 'n lerms 01

funelion bul also 'n Iha mak,ng So
lhase CI,,"ese _pie 'n lile northwesl

who were a11 cracking sunflower Seeds
you have a slruggle In your mmd.
Wlth Ihelf leelh anct he sald SOmethlng

like, 'This takes patlent and skllful
wor!<.' Many Weslemers can'l do rt
Bul we're convinced because of
IhlS mlSleading elemenl

JB I was wondering about the
significance of the sunflower
sood itaelf and your memories of

8unflower seeda when growing up
in China . When we last met, you
talked about a shari ng expenence
or a Social dimension to the
sunflower aeed.
AW In China, when we grew up, we

had nOlh,ng, excepl maybe a bed, a
slove,
a Slool or a chalr. Whalever you
sea tOday, we dldn', have. We dldn't

even have hghl-bulbs or eleclnclty;
II was very prlmltlve. Every year we
had mayba flve d,Herenl klllds 01

vegelables, bul aU al dlfferenl limes:
in winter onions and potatoes, In
summer walermelon and some green
vegelablas . squash and cabbage
1I was always jusI a few, very limllad

lh,ngs, Bul for aven Ihe pooresl
people, the Ireat or Ihe treasure we'd
have would be the sunflower seeds
'n averybody's pockels, Wa'd have

sunUower seeds becnuse the&e lastad
lhe whole yaar (lhey don'l naed a

refr;geralor. whlch we dldn't have).
So dUflng a marnage ceremony or

Important meetlngs or bofore the
--"""'y
"1OVJe m on - ......... ,"""""' w8I'1lO

_ lhase same rov 1T1OVIe5 lhal ""d
been e reulallMg lor maybe twenty
'
My molher can do '1 very fasl She lusl

uses the tlp of her tangue; then the
kernel COmes out and 15 perfect, nol
ruinad. 1Ihmk Weslerners 50mellmes
Jusi chew Iheskln. Al] Chlnese know
how lo do It: hke a blrd. So the
Slnologlst says!hat he thmks rl lhere
was no such Ihtng, maybe there'd
be some ku"'ld of revolutlon or SOCIal
change, because thlS lakes so much
pallenceand effort and sklll. I thmk It's
very Inleresllng becausert'ssuch a
popular behaviour
MO Ifwethinkabouttheseassociabons
ofthe sunflower seeds - with toad,
with a special treat that you could
have even in winler when nothing
was growing - such a mass of
seeds is quite a powerfullmag8,
AW Il 's true. In China, even In the poorest,
masl remate area, everybody would
always have a few sunflower seeds
In thelr pockets So It'S a kmd af
confldence you have 1I grows and
you can eat JI
MO I've seena sampleofthesunnower
d s and they look lo me IIke
see
.
thanreelones.
lhey're slighUy bogger
AW Actually, lhere are biggeI' real
anes lhan lhose We dIose tne

smalJer anos In tne place wIIere
grew up tne sunflower oeedS are
QUileblg
JB The seeds are being made in the

city 01 Jingdezhen in southern
China. How has the production
been going?
AW This IS Ihe masl complicated type 01
manual work to do, which cauld only
happen today in China. This work
could never be made in any olher
place. It's very diflicult because 01
the time limlt and the nature 01 this
project. We naw have 1,600 people
In volved on the produclion, with
six unils. People are Joking about 11,
saying that the entire cily is involved
In this production, which is very
exclting because it's a work aboul
mass produclion and repeatedly
accumulaling the small eflor! 01
Individuals to beco me a massive,
useless plece 01 work. But It'S doing
well. Everythlng 15
under Control.
!alife
JB Can you talk a littJe brt
this idea 01 mals
AW W
""uClIon?
hat China IS dOlng tOday ,
really sustalnable They aac
almost everythlng lor aQUlck
- enwonment, educallon
standards, mOrals alllhase
are being sacnllced JUSIIOQtl
quick. China IS bhndly ll'Oducrlo
demands 01 the rnar1<et We It
the lowenng 01 standards aro
values In general In both e
course, in China rt's a
the West But becauseofthe
and economlc srtuatlOll P80Ille
to Inslst on those values.
thlnk, the 10undatlOf1 oflOCllly
or later the problem of thS
show. There's a general blindness and

ignorance about these thlngs.
JB And there's more of an extreme
gap between people in soeiety.
AW Yes, soclety qUlckly develops Inlo
two levels: a hlgher level who lust
want to malntain slability and make a
bigger profit and be stronger, and the
general pUbhc who don't feel capable
of being Involved. My work very much
relates to Ihls bhnd productlon of
thlngs. I'm part of It, which IS a bit 01
a nonsense. The sunllower seeds
can never be planled and can never
grow, but the precess 01 eontlnuously
doing something Iha!'s not really
uselul in sueh a massive way and
takes such a long time and wlth so
many people involved rellects those
conditlons.
MD What's so interesting for me
about this work is the faet that
t's on an industrial sea le but t's
a manual process.
AW This kind 01 porcelain-making IS one
01 the earliest human aclivllles Ihat
relates to artelacts or arto II started
Ihousands 01 years ago. China IS
lamous lor porcelaln because the
Imperial Court always sought Ihe best
quality and was so In love with thls
arto So Ihe process has been highly
pOlished and delined Ihroughout
hlstory. Jlngdezhen was the base
01 production 01 the Imperial Court
p'eces, so il has a very strong tradlllon
and skillul craftsmanship that involves
mOdelhng, sculpting, liring and handpalnling. The process 01 making the
sunflower seeds is no different Irom
making any other percelain pieces: II
takes Iwenty to thirty different klnds
01 processes.
MD Is there a division of labour in the
processes? Are there speeialisls
carrying out the individual steps?
AW Yes, It'S always been done like that.
MD In the West, we often think 01 this
kind 01 proeess as Fordism, as an
invention by the car manufacturer
Henry Ford, but in fact il 's a mueh
older invention.
AW Oh, much, much older. The prelesslon
IS so sophlstlcated and mature. When
we talk about culture or clvlIIsed
soclety, we're really talklng about how
elearly all those processes are dellned
- you know, thls klnd 01 janguage
those vocabulanes, how neh and how
refinad those cflVlSlons are. They have

very clear rules. Irs laSCinatlng to Iook
at how Chln8Se culture develoPed
In older times through these "ch
vocabularles In all dlfferent klnds of
maklng, through carpentry, PQfCeIaJO,
paper-maklng and pnntlng.
MD How do Our eonlemporary
conceptions 01 distinctions
between art, eraft and deslgn relate
to Ihe produelion al Ihe Imperial
Court? 1I seems lo me thal those
concepts were understood quite
differently, more fluidly, perlhaps?
AW In anclenl limes everythlng was
designad lor one persen lo appreclale.
whleh was Ihe Emperor. Everythlng
had JusI one standard and everybody
was Irying lo reach Ihal level' lo
perfecl Ihe producl, whlch s 01 very
hlgh quality and dellnlllon. II we go
lo museums lO see obJects Irom Ihat
lime, we'lI sllll be very surpnsad by
Ihe quality. TOday, 01 Course, we sllll
use Ihe same lechnology and Ihe
same kind 01 skills. Jlngdezhen has
th,s Iradlllon, bul we're uSlng Ihal
perfecllon lo meel a contemporary
understandlng and definlllon 01 hle
so Ihat II can apply lo Ihe general
pUblic. This IS why we're maklng
Ihings on such a maSSlve scale and
wilh such effort and ler such an
inslllullon, while al Ihe same lime Ihe
objecl ilsell - whlch we call art -IS 01
no use. We can't use II or apply il lo
our slruggle 01 survivlng.ln anClenl
limes In China there were very lew
cases when objecls were purely lor
aeslhellc appreclallon or lo make
so me kind 01 slatement. Bul loday,
this phenomenon wllI be experiencad
by millions and In the most publiclsed
localion. People wllI realise Ihal Ihese
are really Individual pleces, even
though II looks as II I!'S one plece.
Each one is Idenlical wllh the olher
100 mi Ilion. And Ihose numbers relale
to Ihe indiVidual under Ihls masslve
condlllon. They're all sunllower seeds.
bul Ihere's no real connecllon Ihere
Ihey're jusI accumulaled logetherfor
Ihe evenl
MD So !he work refers to!he reJationshlp
between the individual and !he rnass,
15 there any specifie meaning l o !he
number 01 seeds that make up !he
work, wheh are estimated lo be
100 million seeds?
I..t .."
;.....,111 eIDlo.'" 1" Europe

IIIC!
h8ve becoma more
OC MDI' .,.... It's been
adopled
"..y lUce .I''ully by orga"isal iOns

_ ..... Idnd olone-direcl ional
bi ...
Bu! al Ihe sa m e lime,
Ihete.re always new lools I hal

lurfaC8, like Twitter, th at retu rn
power to individuals. So we think
of the internet as a very comp lex
tool that has great potentiaJ, bu t
also has the potential far c ontrol.
That's also som eth ing that w e see
in China , sn't it?
AW II"s true. Look at the recent economle
eollapse: we probably thoughl, wllh

today's sClentlfic developments.
that thlngs eouldn't go so badly

wrong. But people lusl manlpulated
aU the numbers on the computers

and suddenly they reallsed they'd
ereated thls blg problem. AII tools
are deslgned and used by people,
and people, of eourse, have all klnds
of Intentlons as to how to use the

Internet. The government In China 15
Irymg to control mformatlon and to
control human mlnds. Thls is how they

mamtaln power. The new technology
has made It more dlfflcult TWltter and
blogs have become a channel for
people to exerclse their awn vOlees
even If It'S very IImlted, and to fmd
nght Informaban and the nght path
to assoclate wlth. The real potenttal
IS not yet elear If we look at what's
happenlng In Iran, ar what's happening
In China taday, we ean see that the
has played a great role.

atklng atong the street In China today
IS so dlfferent from even two years
for perhaps two hours,
ognlsed by a few people. I
Clan t know th em, but they've even
rnetnonsedmyw
ha
ords. So you can see
W Inlluentlal t
nota
lean be, beeause I'm
don t IOelal person, I don't 90 out I
go to part,e
'
Socla!ISe tho
s or openlngs; I only
.
tl'tdy mlrac
the media So thls 1$
can Selec u OUS '1Iuatlon. People
krtow1edgI ,rformatlon, b ulld Ihelr own
thernset.; e stf\.Clures and express

es Thatmak
If" the hlSlory Qf
hu es US Individual .
nvv", been I k man devetopment
ethat
.
MD It changes the way in which

individuals beco me individuals.
AW It puts everybody In the same
condltlon. because It'S a tool that
everybody can freely use
MD I wonder about the relationship
between China's economic
growth and the internet in China.
Over the last ten or twenty years,
China has become the place
where computers are made and
so perhaps access to computers
is easier even for poor people
compared with other parts of
the world. So to some extent the
democratic potential 01 these
tools is related to capitalist
production systems.
AW Yes, In many cases you see
undeveloped countnes speedlly
catchlng up And th,s IS happenlng so
fast. even we can't beheve 11. Everythlng
has to be made here In China. It
remlnds me of what Lenln sald: when
capltahsts want to be more prosperous
they try to explOlt poor natlons but at
the same time they eqUlp them wlth the
hlgher ski lis and management and that
could kili the capitahst society
People in China have come
trom a history in which there was no
individualism; everybody was just a
plece that identlfied with another,

more hke a mllltary type 01 unifled
society. Now, gradually the society
15 becoming a mass of ndependent
minds wlth independent behavloursnobody knows what's gOlng to
happen. It's too blg and the
phenomenon is too new for us to
cope wlth. What about the natural

resources, the ski 115 for surviving and
the struggle when all those people
beco me more efficient and they all
have stronger demands? What's

going to happen?
MD The Italian philosopher Giorgio
Agamben has written about what
he calls the condition of ' bare life'
_ the condition of people in parts of
the developing world who live on a
subsistence level. We saw sorne of
that this morning when we drove
through the areas that are being
completely pulled down and saw

people who live in the destroyed
buildings, cleaning bricks to recycle
Ihem. How do you feel about Ihis

condition o, 'bare lite' in a country
like China
.
,whlch
sOfastand
sU"'1
wealth that
Op''!9
'o
dlNerential
a,
and the very. Oen\he
"eh ja
an d bigger?
getilog
AW China IS a sp, I
become a WOrld
time through pow.,
a lew In
'
It s Ilke It took h
case,
UOd_
thls blg hole th

Ytars
' en SUdd
th e water start t l
o low
thls tremendous vol
SO It'S a Phenom ume ano

enon
has. Chall111an Mao''','_''
I'<IW""ndertheCom mun Slle-to
...
-,
l
lll ...
when we have themen
the miracles.' But
party IS ver Sklllully
.
Prolll,"" f.._
capltahsm, It's
"0
en
powerful because mon:;v l!Iore
In - they're taklng
to the nation for therr
know, small pnvlleged c"eles

makes soclalln)Ustlce andl
...
,1
become much worse than hl$'
At the beglnnlng,
Ilghting lor soclallusbee,
was
It becomes natlonal
'"""
IS the most powerful because'JlI/'o
nules and IlaIwsaredeslQned 101 ",".,1
interests,
I II
type power. But of course. Ihls
cause a revolution. SoChlnalSata
very uncertain stage. Therearea .
01 social problems
MD The early Marxists talkedabout
t he way in which the bourgeolsre
in Capitalist countries workedlo
avoid revolution by making mlrumal
concessions to the wor1<mg classes.
to keep people at a level jusi beIow
revolution. Do you feel that lhe
Chinese government is trying toplay
that game as well - tryingto.iOid

revolution and social change?
AW I thlnk at the ver be91n01ngtllf, "

thought 01 becomlng neh Its .,
you're hungr, you Ihlnk: ets,,:'
banquet. Bul Ihen once you've
the banquel, yOU
thttheR'
are a 101 01 problems assoaate<i
It _ your health, how much rt
and aJl those thlngS. The (;/1.governmenl IS trylng 10 onana9'
China as a vehlcle on IhefaS! ro#'
Now II's on the lasl
Ihere are IremendOUS
Su!
the englne and the syslem
rea""
..
can't get off the fast track. And all the

people dnvlng on thls hlghway are very
cautlQUS because it coutd cause blg
problems. I thlnk It'S very dangerous,
but It seems there 's no way out. Of
course, soclety has become much

ncher. But lhe problem IS, when peopla
become "cher they become more
consclous about falmess, They hav8
more demands. So people start to
questlon the government's capabl"ty:
why IS the stnucture so old? Why do
they have to be lhere? And then the
government becomes ridlcutous.

Everybody starts to laugh at them
That's somethlng the government
sti" can't resolve, because thay
refuse to have multl-partles ar

electlons or an Independentjudlclal
system or an open forum to dlscuss

malters. There are no dlfferent
levels of soclety; ,t's simple: It'S the
government and the mass. whlch 's
very problemat,c.
MD There ha ve recently been particular

problems In factories in China,
for example in the Taiwanese-run

computer factory Foxconn.
AW Yes, tha!'s a very Interesling case
W,th,n qu,te a short space 01 time,
th,rteen people Jumped out 01 the
wondow there. As a lactory they have
Sorne 300,000 people ,n one base
ACtU3I1y, 1I 's u modero IU!!, 01 courso.

the condltlons Ihera me prObilbly
bettar than the prevlollS condlholls,
whlch Is why people oinud I hoy
Car, play plng-pong 01 use thu

bUI stdllt's a DlI. Thule's ,lhnosl no
other "le beyond the laclory How
can humans be treated Ihul W,IY?
The dlfforence when they Plllflt Ihe
sunflower Seeds is thu! those poople
Can 90 home; thay Con come Ot nol
come: thay act mora IIke
Sut In the lactory, Ir. not IIke l"ul
It's hke the mli,tury. Th,1I d,ove Ihosa
people C"LY They
Ihell hve-,
could never ba batte, t"'n Ih.u T""y
becnme part 01 the equipmenl, Bu!
who's the real klUer? The rtK\1 klllPr Is
anybody who uses COlllpulers ami
who o.pproclates how 'cheap' modllrn
technology can be It's so wondl'rtul.
huh? We al! push far {1 belhn, mora
efflClent society. but sOIllt'body has
to pJy tar It. It's not 'nol' paylllq l3uI
nabody emes In the W t People IUSI
want to have cheJp r produc! und
those manutactultH I1M"- .1 101 ot
rnon9Y .. er azy
Alld ,t ti !1l
everybody'"' h,'ppy, but , /ly nol
ev rybody', h 'ppy
JS In thls sltuaUon, what's th. rol. 01
the ort,st1 What'. th. rosponslb,hly
al the ortost1
53
1987
Sh:>os "'" wood

58.29xl5cm
.. c.. .......
AW The artist doesn't produce food and

doesn't make clothes, so I think the
role of the artist IS somehow apart
from the real struggle. The artlst can
ask questions or express oplnions
that are more Independent, to raise a
kind of consciousness. Actually, I don't
think there's much an artist can do.
Most artists are corrupt. But good
writers or good philosophers or
people who really care about human
behaviour and society are always
needed.
MO Do you Ihink Ihe facl Ihal an artisl
makes Ihings Ihal are useless in
sorne way means that he or she has
a perspectiv8 on what's going on in
society, a detachment, a distance
from Ihls struggle?
AW Useless or useful: It all relates to
value ludgement and aeslhetlc
Judgement. II also relates to morals
and philosophy, whlch always need to
be announeed, whether as a human
or as a SOClety. We need Ih,s kond of
practlce that can be dl5aSsoaaroci

or detaehed from d.,ly slruggleL
MO So in!hal sense,
between Ihe work Ihat
artisl and Ihe o!her 8CtivJt11e
you carry out .. as an
line, in other media.
AW From a very young 091 I SlllIfIdll,
sense that an Iln'dlVl,duall haslo."
exampleln SOClety YOU,ownlCllt
behaviour tell the woo1d who'YOU'.
and what kond of sooetyYOU
itshouldbe.
something or aellngond-dlW
be vIsible. I don't beI,..... .....
would have a consctenC8
those acts. So to maka"'.
a elear definrtoon, whoch
argue about.lt doeOt1t 11M
loud announcement. n.,.,bt
small, almos! ,nviSillll
a
condrtlOOS haVO 10
t.,
1.1111.
1.'1\ ,1.1.,\ h "

t
, "'lit Ih "11 htl
t
{h t
\1
'''1 \
l'h
""'p... d Ilh tI! \
Ihhth\1\ l't th
tI',1I 1h \
"1
Ippr l(tl
l.
1111,,1111 lto 1
e a uett r
'
o POr! l
\ou r r all\'1 1
Elcrdh me lis
,1,
1
"
I ,,1' I'a"'lillll
tI,
""11.'\ 1
d 11 'tI
1 ,,,' Ih '"
\1 t 11 1 1I\\Iu 1,I 11, d p, "
hlll "11
a
\htt I Ih
h'l .'"
'"111"
1
t
1 '1 ti
..
b h.\t \
"'tlh 1
1\
1th
,1" 1
n, 1 "
'" th 11 \ ,\, Ih<\" th"h "'1"
... l WO,h.
,., lh t l'h\11 ' \
\1
'1
11\ )\t\'pl \ Ih\ " lll.tl..Ull)th

d, \ l\lh. lOllna
lit "1\,\11 hlp.
Ih
\ \\lh1ltll'l\ 1\1" ,\1 I..shops, Whll'h IS
th ,,\ndltl,\1\ lhe, ', tlStX1 t,l Ihe
W\lI,\" I
1,
'tl
1.1,11.""",
ni" t 1l\\111 \\lththt\lIlhlklten

no\\
,'f 1,\tr'l '\1 I\nl d\\ II dI nll !\ut th
,,\1\\
pl.l\ 11 ") Ilt di h\ , tlltl "1\1\ dI' It
dlll, 1 11, 1""1\ \IIh.lI Ih V

t't\l\ h .1 \ tlr tllq dltle'flnl
Phl \
'10111<1
tI),lt
thtl\, tllldt\l'lh1l)li wh,\t the
ohlt d Itlt Y ,\'( I In,\I..inq wn tOI.llltty

1II.'d. 1'"11,,,
IIbowl, 01 Oblt"'ls
tlltlV'\I"llltltlt h'I thl'lllS.tndsoty nrs
11111
,1l'lIy \IIh,,111 was [01,
why Ihls 1")\t.IV w,,>. qooll 01 nOI qoOd
1'"1 wllh IIh
s
Ihey'd
"tlWI IIndu t.\IId wh,lI Ih, Y'le lar
1t1t y I1Wt to m""t). o mnny, In
wllola town dOing
IlItl'" II0W Ihd nldnlly, Iha young,
IIltly' l' ,111 pnlll"lp,11Inq I]IIllhey
woultln't lII)dlHtit,md tl1lt It'c; for an
A,II11'IIIol1 111,,1', i\ Vt1lY blg problem
Iltlmnlllllo',\llothfH crm that's
NIr,lnqAly connnc tnd 1moda a pall of
110" (0111' M,m S/, o(l 1981 , 119 .53)
,1IIt11 w nl"ti lO pol1511 Ihem when
1wn9 111 N.\\\ YOI' So 1wenl lO Ihe
IInlqhllOlllhood SIIOCI)),1kAr, n Polish
coufll .. Wll0 nlwny' pollslled rny
11Mg, Ihny IIVn n rnnehlne so
H/I',III 1'I<lVO Iha SI10AS lo Ihe mon o
1I'l loo,o(j ni 1M nhoAs ond hls Inee
"",,\11,
lItl
IJtlC llllll VHly "1AriOLlS. HH went bnck
IlOhlml 1111" ""'011 Iloolh lo enll hls wl[e

",,1 <I"tI 111 Y 1l01l1 lookoo ni IIlem.
IllO" tI\f'Y loo,,,d al rny r..AI, nnd IMn
tl lny
to 1110, 'Wft don't 110VQ Ihls
hl,IC.k 1'011,,11.' 1o,lId, 'No, don'l worry,
hlOWII POli"'l I"J tilIH,' I hAll ttlOy snld
'0", 1I"'CIU"fl" ll,okAn .' Ami Ihen
111 ,11t'II!d tll,lt tllHY WPle very anqly
I1I ( ,Uj' f tllftir Illt-1II116'a work h.ld hPfln
(11)111('
Olllf'lhlllD ttl.lt'SlllnUl1lllglul,
11'.11 tlt 11)' <lCIt'ly .UlcJ Ihase w r ,

l
,
you coul< l 11 't w "[hayd,dll
r ltu
l""
th two
th,1I th P "1'1.
t
',t\
II t
r ,h
hi plIll}
hhl(1 ot PIIUt
YOu
Ihe
It reWard'"q
",oney Rul Ihen VOU
, llllltlthlllf) that's
th,lt e ln dllV
'In ilnlngless
\\hy Iho"
e vou Cl,llV'That's
p opla
ti
Wh,,,, Iltey
lemselves
1
"" 0111 01 Ihe l l
't\('i'tll e thnl sltlli\IrOIl reduc de ory,
Int!dnlnq ot lile
the
V
JR YOII' Worked Wllh olhe,
, <ahll opio, for xaOlplo In YOur

rurnUII'o Series' [1997
I
.. on 90Ing'
Ig.5-I] How dld Iho carpenler. '
1
'
who'd Pl'9vl
ous y been Produclng
obleel. for use, relale lo Ihe
ob] el. Ihoy were Olaktng?
It's
',lOle SlIIIallon. You know
whon VOU have lO 'deslroy' Qnlce
01 Mlng IUI",I"'e 1don'l Ihlnk Ihal 1
dld desltoy 1l bul lo daconsl,ucl or
r ConSltllel 1l Inlo olher lorms really
d.lmnge. Our unde"lend,ng 0111.
monnlng. lhe whole eslabllshOlent IS lo
do wllh vallle Md u&.1ge. WlttgenSleln
md: 'Meanlng is use.' So when we're
mnklng somelhlng so precise and
so porteet bu! wilh no use, then Jt
complelely deSlroys Ihe meanlOg .
1don'l Ihlnk you eould deslroy Ihe
meanlng eny more effacllvely Ihan by
dOlng Ihal. Tha!'s a eharaelenshe 01 my
work lO esk Ihls qllesllon aboul Ihose
Simple meanlngs. For Ihe earpenlers, al
Ihe very beglnnlng 1l WQS very dlff,eult,
laler, Ihey saw some exhlb,ltons and
1Ihlnk Ihey've beeome mo,e used lO
11. 1wouldn'l say people undersland
11 . ACluallY' 1don'l really undersland ,1 '
[lollghsJ Bul 1'01 laselnaled by Ihe ael.
JB 1I we Ihtnk oboul Ihe malenals
t;w
thot you've used in your work - for
example Neolilhie vases [50003000BC] "nd dlsmanlled temple

wood [Olng Dynasty, 1644-1911] It's Inleresttng the way Ihal you look
at hlslory and Ihe pasl with a klnd 01
arehaeolog leal appro.eh. Look,ng
nt artefaets and what Ihel, value .nd
meoning Is seems lo be somelhlng
Ihal runs through your praellce.
AW People Ihtnk Ihall'm
,n
Chlnese tradltlons, whlch ISO t true
1'01 more Inlerested In our pa$t hl!m1r'
dersland,ng al
beh:1vlOUr dnd Qur un
1 'es and 1explore lhl5 by deahr19

va u
d made
th some eX'51,ng rea y
w'
acceplS as
e()l1C8pt1h}1
El'e, , - y
untaucllable ar flxed By dealtng with

that. you call easlly reach the present
or use It to ralse your own points.
Mast 01 the time we can't really figure
out the meaning, but we can flnd a
path, and we can ga out Iram there.
We can put It In proportlon to our
own understanding
MD You said people often mistakenly
think you're interested in the
traditions of Chinese arto Where
do you see your artistic practice
in relation to twentieth-century
art movements?
._-
AW The struggle 01 twenlleth-century

mt movernents was to find a new
delinltion through a dlfferent type 01
art, and to re-announce our condibon.
Even at the begll1ning 01 the last
century, ar at the end 01 the nineteenth
century, peaple already sensed
this social change - that modernity
was comlng. BUI slltl nobody could
have Imaglned today's world. Even
hall a century .go, we couldn 't
have Imnglned what's happening
today. We're always haunted by the
nlght",,,,es 01 before, but we also
have to cope wllh the new condltlon
illld I thlllk Ih;1I's a very slow precess
Only what's recagl1lsed by seclety IS
dellned by soclety. Sorne Ideas"rat

were ralsed 100 years ago. weor
recagl1lse later 'Oh that guy \',as \'O'y
mterestlng because he ralsed Iha!
question a long time ago: Bu! mast
thlngs that are popular today _e'll
soon lorget.
MO That's clearly the case with
Duchamp: that took along time

for him to be recognised. Pemaps
there's a similar situatlon in China
now, where it's not easy1orOf'dinary
members 01 society to understand
what contemporary art s.
AW Ves, because the onginal concept 's
from the West. from the conllnuous
thll1kll1g 01 the development 01
the West. But Chrna today Isalsoa

product of Western modernrsatlon
What we can seeon the surlacelSst til
the resul! 01 the Industnal Revolut'on
But 01 course, th,s soclety bears a
101 ef its anginal characler-we
normatly cal! it culture - and thrs haS
shaped and lormed Itsdlfferences
It's very strong and very dlfferen l .rJ
are equatIY
People In olher cultures
, h p""",ng tte
canfused by whal s a """"
world today.
"nt
MD I Ihink that's a very good P"'
It's not that contemporary
artll confusmg or dlfflcutt
...oemand, bu!!hat contemporary

M. II dlfflcutt and confu
liII You _ up and real se
you re up 11
en !he bOtlom 01 !he oc
W'<I::oos are completely
JI A.. young aruot in New York n !he
tIllOs, you created a sculpture 01
....cot Duchamp'a prolll. "9 a
coat hanger. I remember aeemg a
p/Iotograph In on. al your books
IhItIhowt that obloct on atable
wl!J 1he huaka al aunllower seeds
pItd Into 1he comer al it [119.55]
lo Ihe conto,t 01 !he Work lor!he
rlltlino H.., !hl' documentary
Amenea.
Amenea .n !he 1980s
asaneXJle?
A ti An e e bu a
Ispanla 010
pIa",
can:ls 9 5
MD And Duchamp >la ed
Al' Yes. but my
I couldn I afforo I
JB How di<! you lee! when
lo China Irom
w or
1990s, alter China hIId "",<lergol"

penad 01 such rapid c:hangotl
AW Igrew up n !he
"""th"l\Sl
01 China en I h
i>I>otogr'ph"'me a very 'esonanl
"'"VOl
lew thout
hanging out lhenI

gave me \he poulblllty
IT1yMIIto _tIW1lO
!al
IhIId
If ICII1n1
yt
10 lllWlll,
beC3use was so hurt and damaged

bytheSOCletyhereand\haIS hasn'\
fu :rlamentallychanged Eveylhng's
changed t>uI the belef The sysIem s
5 Ihere - the Communl5t sysIem. So
a !hose thll195 pul me Inlo a posrtJon
\ha!'5 qUite unlque, Wlthoul th05e
'1Q5.1 thlllkl'd be ve<ydlfferenl. And
\t'er1 suddenly 1 became Irtty-Ihree!
1want to be trulhfullO my own
COndltlon 1 have to be very alert and I
have to make an effort lo make sorne
staternent about art as a proles5lon,
whlch IS Ihe only Ihlng I can clearly be
assoclated wilh, and also lo support
the 10caI communily. Ihe younger
people, who also want to be artl5tS or
to be a httle dlfferent from!he pre\l1OU5
generabon. Tha!'s why I spend so much
time on Ihe Internet; 1Ihlnk rt just needs
one sentence or one act and they'JI
understand \he wortd much better rt
mlght change Ihe meanlng 01 \he" lile,
MO The situation 'o
'.
rYoung
In China is perha
artist
PS
becau5e it's so ea
,
SYlo P
Ihln9s in China co
rOduee
mpared
other countries a d
Wlth
, n Ihe
production can sOm ti ease 01
obslacle lo clanty ,e mes be an
o though
AW Yeso In every natlo
t.
n artl5ts I
dlfferent problerns B
ace 'er.
. uti th nk
they have an advantage her that
01 the ease 01 maklng thlng: becaUSe
That means that YOU h
aVeto
greater Irequency, And \hat act ""Ih
the" thlnklng 3nd the I
Ir earn
much laster because
"'91'oi1J be
,
youaiways
Irom your practlce And thlnk ""Iearn
__
iOteresti09 work ",JI c
..
Ome Out 01 ....
current sltuatlon bec
" ..
,
ause ther
IS very strong, But \he char
eaJty
acter 01 lile
work IS qUite strange b
ecausenow
they re Produclng art lor \he \'Ies1
world to lcok at rt. Thls ISbecau er"
don't reaJly have open dISCUSS';'
d,,,,
means
le your
'1 aSSOcla
d
yOU
can
le
So
on Ihe
O
;IIloa allh sOCial
a
..... w
are ex
I n
sts
'11",. nd artl
nd change, bu o
oti8 h3 strugg le disassociating
srI' nd lhey re
h
'" her h3
. hich 15 t e
Ives f,om It, w dlHicul1 lo flnd
""",se
It's so
Ir." nmblem e-and 1
1'5 Ihe same
rrghllanguag your concerns
ss
roe - to expre ur whlle atthe
roa ss behavlO Individual work
""",. produclng
broe
e
sam obeeHectlve,
lca
ttr.l
de certaln works that
,
You'v. roa ore explicitly In
JB ...ak roueh m
social issues,
Srlo those
response em bering 2009, one
Rem
8
"eh as
ses lo Ihe 200
OfyourresPohn uake disasler.
k
aneart q
srchu
Ihe earthqua e
11\
il really relales lo
er
doast te deals wilh social and
hOwa sla
, the Identrty of Ihe
M<Jual mattelS,
lid
rrdorduals whoded
1 , why Ihe state
lo eover Ihlngs up. and how lo
, nerale people's underslandrng Ihal

Ihey have Ihe nghl lo know aboul 11. II
Isn'l easy lo make an example of a civil
ael. beeause you have lo handle 1I not
so foreefully Ihal Ihe slale will crush
il. Bul you have lo make il happen, lo
become an example for olher people,
so Ihal young people become mora
conseious and ael on Iha!. Bul we
did il very sueeessfully, even thougl1
Ihere were a 101 of diffleullles We
found oul aboul Ihe young sludenlS
who died in Ihe earthquake _ Ihe"
names, Iheir birthdays, Ihe sehools
Ihey belonged lo, Ihe" famllles, and
posled Ihls informallon on Ihe Inlernet.
We made a few programmes tllal
relaled lo il. Then we asked all Ihe
people from TWltter lo read one name,
using a reeorder or phone. They sent
Iheir voiees baek lo us, and we pul
Ihese flve thousand names logelher
lO b COIll .11011'1 r .\ltll1'1 01 ovel Iwo

110u1S. Tl1,ouqh Ihl' .Iel w H'l Ivel!
Ovel t"11 o, Iw I1ly Ihou, l11t1lOl
floln
. 1.1Iwny W.1nIIO lit Iql1
nll 011\8 01 !ruelll' Ih.1I nl1 b"
lo everybOdy It'S Vt'ly 111.111, peopl
can e.1Slly hnndle It. bul wll(\n 11 COIIII'.
'It becollles so pow"lhll.
b Ollse Iha IIldlVldll,111 .11I'!'5Ih.11
Ih 1 's aI10Ih", person wll0 I1l,ld Ih
Ollle ellort, ""d Iht'le's .IIIOlher ""d
onoll1ol, .lIld Ihes, poopl, cal1 .111 Sll.lra
Ihe
values dnd Iha sall10 611011
MOklng Peopl. 111 SOCINy" ,onnis
Il1tJll1selves is ver lllt1IClIll, esp ially
in Chlll.1. So I'm.,lw.IY. IrIIlq lo
lIboul how lo do t1l1S AII t1ley liad to do
W,\S lo 1110monso 111 n.1111 of 011 dOlld
pelSOn. bul t1l.11 nl.\1I .1t'1 e,m b 3111
Ihe Slrong Sllolc 01 mel.,pIlOIl\g,llllsl
Ihu SI.lle power. lho colloCk'd 1l01l1\'S
I11l1de 1I IIl1POSSlbl lo forqel Or er aso
Ihetnllh.
AW I wouldn't say I've become more

radical: I was born radicaL/ can still
recall my re/ationshlps with my parents
the lirst authority that we have, and '
can dentlfy
my schools. But 01 course, at that time
before yoU
there was no vehicle, no possibilities
.....!'"I for people.
and I wasn't equipped. Now I have
nctlons
a much blgger stage, or at least, my
practice has convinced more people
to tolerate me. So I don't think I have
changed really. Even if my works made
lO New York look quite conservative ,
that was a moment when nobody
was doing work like that - it was NeoExpressionism or a more Industrial
type of working. Now I feell can speak
more freely about my intentions, but I
didn't at that time. At that time, I felt as
if my life had no meaning, or couldn't
have any meaning to others. It wasn't
a condition that was very encouraging,
and I don't think most people could
survive in those conditions. I'm lucky.
Today, I have this opportunity so I really
appreciate it. But it's taken a very long
time. And 1'11 never forget the difficulties
s
I experienced there. So me people
!he process is a very
would say, 'Why have you beco me
and important par! 01
so active now?' They don't really
INI pn:IjeC:t In relation to what you
understand my situation in New York. I
_ .. ,,:m'''' aboUt responsibility,
was anticipating those demonstrations
by homosexuals about AIOS, I was also
demonstrating against Oesert Storm,
which wasn't a populardemonstratlon
in New York City, I was organising the
Oemocratic Students' Movement
outside of China, I was dOlng local
demonstrations for years against
gentnficaliOn
In Thompson Square
everythlng
Park.
I
did
it
as
a photo-report and even
Of
condlliOns
had
my
photographs
published lO the
:.e::;!UlII1 !he development
New York Times, Datly News and the
-xrlCf,lions So only by
New
York Post [fig.59]. Before that,
:; ..".IIdIl!I Irccdorr
In 1979, I was qUite actively Involved
In the flrst democratic movement lO
China, called the Stars group. So, it's
not one day's pOSltlon, But It really
takes a long time; it takes a lot of
dlSCOuragement and a lot 01 sadness,
and you feel powerless and you lee!
d you lee!lt's not pos5IbIe
SI nloday I olten lee! unsuccessful
mosl 01 !he I me I leellncapab!e 01
ng even lhe sma esl move
MO WNI. hurnbIng thought tNt JOU
....
tNt ebout
worL
rour
Aa
MD With Beuys there's a mysticism that

on
el
d
uys?
isn't really so visible in your Work.

AW Yes, because I try not ID see art as a
secrel codeo I Iry ID make Il al leasl
have a very simple appearance, very
easy to do. Everybody can do il. It's
more a menlal adjuslmenl.
MD It sounds easy, bulthal mental

adjustment can be very difficult.
AW Yeso It's hke Buddhlsl practlce. A
Buddhist would say, flrst you Ihlnk a
mountain 18 a mountaln, a river 15 a nver.

Then you become more learned and
ou realise a mountain 15n't so simple:
AW Thal was Ihe PUbllc SeCUnly flur",,,,.

They wanl ID lalk lo me
MO About anythlng In particular?

AW I asked If Ihere's anylhlng Ihay're
particularly Inlereslad In aM Ihey
sald, 'No, no, no, We IUSI wantto ...
you.' I sald 'OK.' June 41h IS comlng
Twenly-one years ago on Ihe 41h
of June, Ihe Sludenls' movemenl
was crushed So every year al Ihls
particular lime Ihey're very nervous.
They prObably wanl lo know if I have
anythlng planned!
nol Just a mountain, it's nol Jusi a

nver. Then, ifyou praclice lo an even
hlgher degree, you slart lo
mountaln is a mountam, a nver 1$ a

nver. SO It'S dlfficull. It's an argument
Ihal has to be proved Ihrough pracllce.
II'S like examining how you fall down;
it's very difficult to analyse how Il
happens.
IAi Weiwel lakes a mobile phone catl]
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When Tate Modern opened in 2000. Tll e Un ilevor S ' f im;

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