Ai Wei Wei

Ai WeiWei
[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CyUibWBYuTg/TafELPAPv3I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/HXgzJc6fQ70/s1600/Ai-Weiwei-6.jpg]

Ai Wei Wei is a Chinese artist and political activist. He also involve actively in architecture, photography, film, curating, social and cultural criticism. Ai Wei Wei has a very interesting life. He done impressive works and held many exhibitions of his art works in many countries. He also received some awards as well.

Ai Wei Wei is the best artist since the Cultural Revolution in China. He smashed ancient vases, taken a thousand of Chinese citizen to a small town in Germany. Besides that, his support and made works about the Chinese's government to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. Ai Wei Wei takes his career and works through attitude, rather than his own style.

Ai WeiWei and Sunflower Seeds
[http://mlkshk.com/r/2EWX]

One of a famous work of Ai Wei Wei is the "Sunflower Seeds". The ceramic seeds fill the space between the bridge and the end wall of Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. The seeds are made in a town call Jingdezhen where is 1000km from Beijing. There are 1600 people and more involved in this project which made this work produced a amazing result.The meanings are as multiple and singular as its form. There is a video in You Tube where it shows how the seeds are made. It was a great effort on the project. In the video, Ai Wei Wei stated that :" I always think art is a tool to set up new questions, to create a basic structure which can be open to possibilities, is the most interesting part of my work." This is a line which I think very meaningful and important for designers nowadays.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PueYywpkJW8)

Beijing National Stadium, "The Bird's Nest"
[http://www.creativeclass.com/creative_class/_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/birds-nest2.jpg]

Ai Wei Wei also contributed for his country as an artistic consultant of the Bird's Nest in Beijing. When he was asked why he would participate in the designing of the stadium, he replied :" I did it because I love Design." There is also a video where Ai Wei Wei explained the design of the stadium. He said that the appearance of a building and its function are both important and they're one thing which cannot be separated. "Beauty is part of function and vice versa." [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hddG7u1hlOU]

Sources:
Ai WeiWei. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei

Gurdian.co.uk. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9,2011, from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/26/ai-weiwei-sunflower-seeds-sothebys

Ai Weiwei: Olympic Bird's Nest & Beyond. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2011, from You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hddG7u1hlOU