Dropping a Han Dynasty Vase
Ai WeiWei, perhaps one of the most controversial artist of our time. Having a good relationship with the western world but heavily criticise the Chinese Government, or to be specific, the CPC (The Communist Party of China). It’s questionable that if he is capable to be defined as an artist, as he seem never produced any art form by himself, but the ideas he has brought up, is definitely provoking and explosive. Apart from his controversy on arts, he’s still a very respectable artist in my opinions, as he discuss big issues that affect his motherland, China, such as inequality, collusion, democracy, environmental issues and more.
My favourite works from him are the “Dropping a Han dynasty Vase” that first showcase in “According to What?” art exhibition in Miami. I have been long interested in ancient chinese relic and thought I would never understand contemporary art until I learn about Ai Weiwei. This work of art specifically, “Dropping a Han dynasty Vase” are meant to protest to the world that, we should focus more on modern times instead of always glorified how our ancestors has been. That kind of frustration to the world are simply expressed through destroying relics that we always conventionally thinks is extremely valueble. Question raised when one’s begin to disrespect this historical artefacts, “is all this artefacts important, when there’s more than half of the world population is struggle to live.
Beside the message Ai Weiwei want’s to tell, Ai Weiwei must be very brave to destroy something that is extremely valuable to the public cultural norm. This action or state of art has inspired me to believe and challenge the things that the society has spoon-fed you. Ranging from, “you should get a proper job”, until “you should earn enough to buy a banglow or sportcar”, are this “lifegoals” is something you should believe in or achieving makes you happy? It’s a hard question. For me, this art piece has been evoke the frustration and sadness of life, and realization of unhappiness in life. We are living in a system that we never dare, or never thought of creating our own path or fully living the kind of life we have always wanted to, especially people like us who lived in a standard capitalist world.
Art is a state of action. Art is when one stain glass artist carefully twisting and burning the molten glass; art is when a poet write a poem about how beautiful the mountains is during his trip to himalaya; art is when a anti-corruption artist trigger a waves of anti-corruption paintings on the internet. At least for the western world, they understand China through Ai Weiwei, without any significant talks or propaganda. Art is product of human’s action that is influential to others. It does not require any communication, it’s an interaction human’s brain to brain, or soul to soul. I didnt know if there’s artist like Ai Weiwei this provoking ever exist in China, but he’s definitely the most dangerous man in China.
