If you didn't get a chance to see the Ai Wei Wei exhibit, According to What?, at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, there's still time! We saw it, but only after a ram-packed 2 hours at the David Bowie Is exhibit, so we were a bit brain dead. That was a shame, but we did at least get to appreciate some of the Ai Wei Wei exhibit. He's a remarkable man, with remarkable talents: some of the pieces were made using traditional Chinese joinery. This technique of marrying pieces together without the use of glue allows for disassembly, the original purpose of which was meant for ease in relocation - most transport when Chinese joinery originated was by animal. While simple in appearance, the innards of these joints are incredibly complex. That Ai Wei Wei uses these traditional techniques for his contemporary pieces is something to behold. Not only is his skill level that of a master, but his applications are nothing short of genius.
The installation that was the most moving was Ai's Straight. Using rebar recovered from the sites of schoolhouses that were decimated in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, he painstakingly straightened each and every piece once collected - 38 tons of it. He did this in response to the Government's refusal to acknowledge these young victims (over 5,000). One can imagine the monumental task in both salvaging and then straightening this amount of rebar. The photo above does not do this piece justice. It's definitely one to see in person.
There were many other fascinating installations too: the Han Dynasty urns, the Snake out of children's backpacks, the River Crabs, and the Moon Chests (another favourite of ours), to name but a few. The exhibit as a whole is extremely interesting, with many beautiful and moving things to see. Certainly for us the rebar stood out though. The impact that this average, every day building material has in this context is indescribable. Go see for yourselves.
The installation that was the most moving was Ai's Straight. Using rebar recovered from the sites of schoolhouses that were decimated in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, he painstakingly straightened each and every piece once collected - 38 tons of it. He did this in response to the Government's refusal to acknowledge these young victims (over 5,000). One can imagine the monumental task in both salvaging and then straightening this amount of rebar. The photo above does not do this piece justice. It's definitely one to see in person.
There were many other fascinating installations too: the Han Dynasty urns, the Snake out of children's backpacks, the River Crabs, and the Moon Chests (another favourite of ours), to name but a few. The exhibit as a whole is extremely interesting, with many beautiful and moving things to see. Certainly for us the rebar stood out though. The impact that this average, every day building material has in this context is indescribable. Go see for yourselves.
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