Ai Weiwei's work was allegedly destroyed by Vaclav Pisvejc, who is known for targeting works of art as part of his "vandalism" practice.
"The man destroyed the large blue and white Porcelain Cube at a busy private opening for the exhibition “Who am I?” at Palazzo Fava in Bologna on the evening of September 21. Local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man who has been identified in Italian media as Vaclav Pisvejc, a provocateur and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting important works of art."
It's using old techniques from Chinese history and applying them in a new way. Ai had to experiment and go through a lot of failure to produce such a different object. I don't think the cube wireframe was important, just the old method being used to make a modern art piece.
I like the idea of reinvigorating ancient crafting techniques by making modern art. I'm not exactly an art guy so I don't know if it's a unique idea but it made me think so I like it.
Damn, I saw that piece in Rio de Janeiro years ago. The banner on my profile if from that same exposition. There were also other things made of ceramic like a teddy bear and a security camera. Iirc, one of the pieces was a pendrive with a backup of wikileaks.
Ai himself is known for smashing works as well. The exhibition’s curator Arturo Galansino noted that several works in the show document the destruction of a precious ceramic. The most famous of these is *Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn *(1995), a triptych of black-and-white photographs in which the artist holds and then drops a 2,000-year-old vessel. It is a commentary on China’s deliberate erasure of its cultural heritage.
"Ai himself is known for smashing works as well. The exhibition’s curator Arturo Galansino noted that several works in the show document the destruction of a precious ceramic. The most famous of these is Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), a triptych of black-and-white photographs in which the artist holds and then drops a 2,000-year-old vessel. It is a commentary on China’s deliberate erasure of its cultural heritage."
Okay so this artist also destroys artifacts that are thousands of years old.
“The destruction that Ai Weiwei depicts in his works is a warning against the violence and injustice perpetrated by those in power,” he said. “[It] has nothing to do with this reckless and senseless act carried out by a habitual troublemaker seeking attention by damaging artists, works, monuments, and institutions.”
Imho there are other ways to prove that point.
However it is despicable that his artwork was destroyed by a trouble maker and the perpetrator should be dealt with accordingly.
There is a difference between me breaking something I own and you breaking something I own. Also, everything old isn't particularly valuable, or important. Apparently the vase he broke was quite cheap. If this was one of the last examples of its kind, or if it was particularly well made, but this appears to be neither of these. Still kind of an asshole move, but I wouldn't say anything of value was lost.
The man destroyed the large blue and white Porcelain Cube at a busy private opening for the exhibition “Who am I?” at Palazzo Fava in Bologna on the evening of September 21. Local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man who has been identified in Italian media as Vaclav Pisvejc, a provocateur and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting important works of art.
Ai himself is known for smashing works as well. The exhibition’s curator Arturo Galansino noted that several works in the show document the destruction of a precious ceramic. The most famous of these is Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), a triptych of black-and-white photographs in which the artist holds and then drops a 2,000-year-old vessel. It is a commentary on China’s deliberate erasure of its cultural heritage.
Ai himself is known for smashing works as well.
Hmmm...
Well Ai Weiwei, it seems you got your answer.
While I doubt the vandal was actually trying to make a comment on the artist's reputation, it does seem very appropriate that one of his sculptures would get smashed at an exhibition called, "Who am I?"
So it's what, ceramic pipes with my grandma's dress pattern stenciled on it? NGL, that's sufficiently stupid to deserve a few whacks with a hammer. I mean hell, I'd never heard of the stupid thing until now, so arguably the defacer did this thing a favor.
Thanks to much practice from my clumsy wife and daughter and their love for highly breakable stuff… I’ve got a few tubes of epoxy, “Challenge Accepted!”