Alright, first time on the blog! A big
step for me since I'm pretty computer-illiterate. Excited to get this going...please
forgive me if I ramble or drift off using the oh-so-convenient “…..” I’m just
going to try to be confident, fearless, deliberate, and try not to over-censor
or over-edit myself, because I’m never going to get anywhere if I pretend I
already know everything.
Embarrassingly I had never heard of Ai
Weiwei until yesterday when Joe sent out the email telling us about our trip to
the theater. I did some research beforehand, but didn't learn nearly as
much as I did watching the film. Hats off to Ai Weiwei and all that he has done
as an artist and a passionate activist. What an incredible story to say the
least…his bravery and lack of self-censorship are admirable, although he doesn’t
consider himself brave. It makes me thankful to have been brought up in a
country and society in which dissent, free speech, and activism are acceptable
and often encouraged.
Among other thoughts, I think the
biggest notion I came away with from this film is the idea of the many different
motives artists have to create artwork, Ai Weiwei’s motive obviously being
dissent and activism. It made me wonder, does
all art have to be critical of something? Can it be celebratory instead? Is being
critical of something more impactful than celebrating something? Ai Weiwei’s
work makes me feel like my art is somewhat ‘empty’ and not very profound…although
everything is relative…because I do not feel that it my work is very critical...it
is more celebratory than anything. And maybe that is because I’ve grown up in a
society where free speech is encouraged as opposed to Ai Weiwei who has more to
be upset about…And although there is much to be upset about in our time and
country, I do not feel that I have to make work that is highly critical nor
activism-based, and I can focus on what I find to be positive instead. And
maybe my work is critical and I just haven’t figured that out yet…
Thoughts?
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