Ai Wei Wei: Rebel with a Cause

You may or may not have heard of him, but surely this Chinese activist has gotten the attention of the Chinese government for his daring and rebellious acts against the government, even to the extent where he was placed under secret detention for 81 days, having no access to his lawyer or family. That was just last year in 2011. 

However, the work I want to be talking about was done in September 2009.

Remembering, Ai Wei Wei, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2009

This on site installation included using 9000 bright coloured children's backpacks spelled out in giant Chinese characters, saying, "她在这个世界上活过七年", which would be translated to "she lived on this earth for seven years". This statement was actually referring to an original statement from a mother of a child killed in the Sichuan Earthquake. 

Below is Ai standing in front of his work.

And these are upon a closer look:

You may be wondering that since it was a natural disaster, then was it not inevitable that someone's child would have died? What did Ai have to oppose the government?

The answers to this question lies in the infrastructure of the buildings during the earthquake. Earlier in 2008, Ai had been investigating about the earthquake and carried out an inquiry regarding the deaths of children studying in poorly constructed schools. In other words, he was criticizing the government for not having taken on the responsibility for ensuring the welfare and safety of Chinese schoolchildren. 

Taking a look at this text from another website:

"While no specific event was held on May 12, as of May 23, the project has recorded the names of 5,190 students. Ai notes that the majority of those deaths—around 3,500—occurred in just 18 of the 14,000 damaged schools. He is quick to point out the discrepancy between his figure and the government’s, and he openly questions the veracity of the government’s numbers in light of their reluctance to release a list of names. A May 23 entry on Ai’s blog, which details the project’s methodology and findings to date, was meant to contrast with the government’s silence about its methodology. The artist believes his current figure represents 80 percent of those killed."

Above: Ai with the names of the schoolchildren who died in the earthquake recorded under the project

Taken from: http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/64/AiWeiweiChallengesChinasGovernmentOverEarthquake

Even the little girl, the one case out of many in the earthquake, could be easily overlooked as a mere figure by the government but Ai wanted to point out the significance of each life, as it would not only affect the person who died, it would affect their family and friends as well. There was a lot more to it than just statistics. Furthermore, Ai felt that they (government and police) could not simply bully and push citizens around, but they instead were responsible for their welfare as well.

This is only one of the numerous projects he has had, and I think the very causes that he has behind each artwork is what makes him stand out as an artist, also being an activist at the same time. He is a true rebel with a cause.