Personally, I'm not a big fan of the artwork we are looking at, but I can see that there is a deeper meaning than its appearance. So, we have been looking at this one collection that basically focuses on people who are going to, currently in, or were in jail, for reasons that are kind of controversial. Obviously where they come from it is reason enough to put them in jail, but here, in places like Canada or the States, the reasons can seem kind of bogus.
I think that he does this work to bring attention to all of us who are generally not exposed to that kind of penalty. I think that Ai Weiwei wants to show us that many people are mistreated, and misjudged, and that what we hear on the news may not be the full story. I think that he wants us to give these people a second look, he wants them to be recognized not as villains, but as civilians, with a right to start again, and have people understand there story, and how they got into a situation that landed them in jail. I think that Ai Weiwei is not afraid of speaking his mind and testing authority. He has a message; he wants us to see these people as more than just another face on the news, and really understand there background, and there story, and he is not afraid to put this message out there for the world to see.
So here are a few of his more recent pieces and little stories beside:
He really just writes a short blurb about each person, but it eaves a real impact on the reader.
Okay, so I get why he wants to share these peoples stories; freedom of speech, and people have a right to know. But, why does he present them in this manor? Why does he pixelate all of his pictures and make them so colorful and weird looking?
I guess everyone could hypothesize a different reason, and he probably has reasons of his own, but here's what I think. I think that Ai Weiwei makes his pictures look so unrealistic and phoney because the charges that sentenced these people to there terrible fate are unrealistic and phoney. It seems like authority just wants to show how much control they have over people and send them away just to prove it. I think that he pixelates these individuals faces partially to protect there identity, but also to show that appearance isn't everything. The most powerful stories are told through understanding, sometimes a picture helps us understand, but in this case it is the stories of these individuals that help us sympathize with and feel sorry for them.
Although this cannot do much, it can bring awareness to there situations. I think that Ai Weiwei is trying to make life easier for these individuals after there jail time is served, he's doing what he can do to spread these stories, it may not seem like that much, but with when dealing with the countries and circumstances these people come from, there is unfortunately not much that can be done. I think that Ai Weiwei makes these faces so bright with color to really draw attention to them. I don't this that he does this art for personal recognition, personally, I think that these pictures look over done, and they are a little lame looking. However, I must say that they cannot be ignored, when scrolling through any kind of social media website, which is where Ai Weiwei posted these pictures, the viewers eyes are always going to be drawn to these pictures, and I think that that is the point.
The pictures are used as a diversion to get all of these mistreated convicts stories out for the world to read. Anyone is allowed access to read about the injustice in other nations, and anyone can do what they want with this information. For some it may be nothing more than table talk or food for thought, but for others it may influence a law based career path or encourage other freedom fighters to take a stand. Ai Weiwei has found a way to inspire through tragedy, and he did so in a respectable, light-hearted kind of way.
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