Archinect - News

Ai Weiwei’s Music Video, Recreating His Detention

2013-05-22T11:48:00-04:00

Now Mr. Ai is answering the guards’ request in a different key. He is presenting them, and the world, with his first heavy-metal music video, one with detailed re-creations of scenes from his 81 days of detention. He also portrays fantasies he imagines flitting through the guards’ minds. Mr. Ai posted the video on a Web site, aiweiwei.com, on Wednesday morning, Beijing time.

Ai Weiwei to lose design firm licence

2012-10-02T19:28:00-04:00

He said it was impossible to re-register his Fake Cultural Development firm because officials had confiscated relevant documents. The move follows his failed bid last week to challenge a tax evasion fine imposed on the firm.

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY

2012-07-31T17:26:00-04:00

Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to the charismatic artist, as well as his family and others close to him, while working as a journalist in Beijing. In the years she filmed, government authorities shut down Ai's blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention--while Time Magazine named him a runner-up for 2011's Person of the Year... Klayman's compelling documentary portrait is the inside story of a passionate dissident for the digital age...

AI WEIWEI: Evolution of a Dissident

2012-01-25T11:33:00-05:00

I am not stupid, you know. Of course I know what I am doing.

Thousands pay Ai Weiwei's tax bill

2011-11-08T20:35:00-05:00

The controversial artist has already received more than 6,000 yuan ($958,000) from more than 22,200 people. While many have sent money via post and the internet, other have resorted to rather unconventional methods -- folding bank notes into paper planes and throwing them into Ai's garden at night.

Ai Weiwei accepts university post in Berlin

2011-07-14T01:15:40-04:00

It seems unlikely, however, that Mr Ai will be allowed to take up his post in Germany in the near-term. Speaking from his studio in Beijing, he said that he had accepted the position when it was offered two months ago, but that the conditions of his release from prison at the end of June stipulate he has to remain in the Chinese capital.

China artist Ai Weiwei 'banned from using Twitter'

2011-07-12T11:38:00-04:00

Mr Ai has already said he cannot talk to the media, and he is not allowed to leave Beijing without permission. He is also reportedly banned from using the microblogging site Twitter. His account has been dormant since April.

Archinect Zine #1, AI WEIWEI, newly released!!

2011-07-06T12:29:00-04:00

We're excited to announce the release of the first issue in the Archinect Zine! This is a collaboration between Archinect and our friend Christian Chaudhari's publishing initiative Friction House.

Creator and producer of the Archinect Zine is Christian Chaudhari, LA-based architect, writer, cultural observer. "Strategically place it anywhere in your house... Impress the mailman, get the chicks (or dudes), stump your professor, or that smart ass friend of yours. The benefits other than knowledge are endless!", he tongue-in-cheek lists some of the Zine's benefits.

Christian continues to explain what you can expect in the Zine premiere AI WEIWEI issue:

"The most absurd bits of Chinese culture, art news and dissident activism directly or remotely related to Ai Weiwei (crazy awesome Chinese artist who got in a hella lot of trouble with China, in case you live under a rock) printed in this ultra compact, super graphic, mega-bitchin magazine. A collaboration between the aweso...

China artist Ai Weiwei 'to challenge tax bill and fine'

2011-06-29T15:02:00-04:00

Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei is to challenge a bill of more than 12m yuan ($1.9m, £1.2m) in unpaid taxes and fines, his wife told the BBC.

Artist Ai Weiwei released on bail by Chinese police

2011-06-22T12:06:52-04:00

Beijing police said they had released the 54-year-old "because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes" and a chronic illness, Xinhua news agency reported.

Going Bald For Ai Weiwei: A Righteous Head-Shaving Performance Sharpens Debate Over Milwaukee Museum's Collaboration With China

2011-06-08T20:29:58-04:00

Forget petitions: art professionals are showing their support for detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in increasingly creative ways. Last week, Milwaukee-based Mike Brenner shaved his head into a style reminiscent of Ai's outside the Milwaukee Art Museum as a show of support for the artist, who has been missing for over two months.

China versus the genius hooligan

2011-06-03T11:09:35-04:00

It’s in no country’s interest to have such a renown and creative citizen behind bars. It is particularly awkward for China’s rulers to oppress the man who designed the venue for their coming out party. Moreover, in its quest to climb the economic value chain and provide its millions of new graduates with jobs, China is at a moment where it needs to embrace creativity, to innovate and to develop the arts, entertainment and other high-value sectors.

Browser Plugin Blocks Chinese Sites To Protest Artist Ai Weiwei's Detainment

2011-05-31T13:44:46-04:00

FAT Lab member Greg Leuch’s browser plugins have been mainly whimsical (abolishing mentions of folks like Justin Bieber and Charlie Sheen), but now, the developer has gone political with the release of China Blocker. It serves as a protest against the detainment of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Family Says Charges Against Ai Weiwei Illegal

2011-05-25T14:02:06-04:00

Ai’s family said that police had never informed them about the charges before the Xinhua report. Ai’s sister, Gao Ge, said, “Fa-Ke Cultural is not Ai Weiwei’s company, and the police have not met with the company’s legal representative.” According to Hong Kong media Apple Daily, the company is registered and belongs to Ai’s wife, Lu Qing.

Ai Weiwei’s Face Projected onto Chinese Consulate

2011-05-24T11:37:22-04:00

One of Ai Weiwei’s better known works is “Study of Perspective,” a series of first-person photographs in which the artist gives the finger to various landmarks around the world, including the Forbidden City. A Cuban artist recently made a similar gesture, projecting a massive portrait of Mr. Ai along the side of the Chinese consulate building in New York City.

Artists campaign to free Ai Weiwei

2011-05-20T11:20:06-04:00

Kapoor, who dedicated his latest work "Leviathan" to Ai, wrote in The Times: "When governments silence artists it bears witness to their barbarity."

Journalist in China Faces Sacking for Ai Weiwei Editorial

2011-05-19T20:24:59-04:00

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed to learn that a journalist at Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper in China is facing punishment after he penned a May 12 editorial that obliquely endorsed the actions of detained artist Ai Weiwei.

China Allows [Ai Weiwei's] Wife to Visit Him

2011-05-16T12:36:04-04:00

The attorney and family friend, Liu Xiaoyuan, said he had met on Monday with Lu Qing and that she said her husband appeared to be in good physical condition. Mr. Ai also asked about the health of his mother and family, he said, but the circumstance of the supervised visit offered no chance to discuss how his captors were treating him or other details of his confinement.

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego acquires work by Ai Weiwei, plans 24-hour protest

2011-05-13T18:38:08-04:00

The museum said it will hold a silent protest in support of Ai on Thursday at its downtown location. A spokeswoman said that the 24-hour protest will start 11 a.m. on Thursday and continue through 11 a.m. the next day. Volunteer participants will occupy two traditionally styled Chinese chairs for one-hour periods.

China unhappy with support for detained artist

2011-05-12T17:04:30-04:00

The Chinese government said on Tuesday it was "unhappy" with foreign support for detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei, after Ai's detention last week sparked an outcry from Washington and other Western governments.

Ai Weiwei misses opening of London exhibition of animal head bronzes

2011-05-11T14:31:14-04:00

Twelve 363kg (800lb) bronze animal heads have gone on display in the historic courtyard of Somerset House in London , the first contemporary sculpture to be featured there. The artist responsible, Ai Weiwei, was the missing element, his wellbeing and whereabouts still unknown after he was detained by Chinese authorities on 3 April.

Ai Weiwei: Daring Chinese Artist

2011-05-11T11:03:59-04:00

Ai is a fire and ice personality. The ice is in the impossibly self-confident impresario who has become a hero of the global art world with his elegant appropriations and deconstructions of China’s cultural heritage.

Anish Kapoor dedicates Leviathan sculpture to Ai Weiwei

2011-05-10T22:53:03-04:00

The sculptor called for a worldwide day of action where museums and galleries close for one day in sympathy for the plight of his fellow artist. "Why not?" he asked. Ai, whose sunflower seeds work in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall closed at the weekend, has been missing for about a month, in the hands of the Chinese authorities. He had not been heard from, nor charged with any offence.

US lambasts Chinese repression of dissidents as 'trying to stop history'

2011-05-10T22:45:14-04:00

Barack Obama's administration has criticised China over its crackdown on dissidents in a week that has seen the passing of a legal deadline to charge or free the detained artist Ai Weiwei.

FREE Ai Weiwei T-Shirts, Now in Stock

2011-05-09T18:14:51-04:00

As you're probably aware, Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist and human rights freedom fighter, is still being detained by Chinese police. In an effort to increase public awareness we're working with BIG to offer these t-shirts designed by e-types, at cost.

Now available: Click here to buy

Art & Agenda: Political Art and Activism

2011-04-28T17:50:15-04:00

Life has become significantly more political in the new millennium, especially in the aftermath of worldwide financial crisis. Art is both driving and documenting this upheaval. Increasingly, new visual concepts and commentaries are being used to represent and communicate emotionally charged topics, thereby bringing them onto local political and social agendas in a way far more powerful than words alone.

In the light of politically active artists facing more and more opposition and oppression (Ai Weiwei remains under Chinese arrest), the just released book Art & Agenda is an important documentation of current urban interventions, installations, performances, sculptures, and paintings and also points to future forms of political discourse.

Our questions are critical....

2011-04-13T23:13:04-04:00

Gerkan: This idea of only wanting to work for private individuals is absurd. In a country like China, where does private end and where does government-owned begin? Private citizens turn out to be aligned with the government, or a private developer obtains government financing for his building. For architects like us, this is almost impossible to figure out. Many of those who criticize us are building the five-hundredth high-rise building in China and claim to have integrity. This is a fallacy.

Within two days of the opening of the first exhibition at the newly renovated National Museum of China, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at the Beijing airport. Der Spiegel recently spoke with Meinhard von Gerkan of the renowned architecture firm gmp in Hamburg, who designed the renovations. Their discussion focuses on the morality of building in modern China. Particularly for a project wherein the government is patron and the site is as historic and politicized as Tiananmen Square.

Ai Weiwei still missing after being held by Chinese police

2011-04-04T06:06:20-04:00

Artist's assistants and wife released but his whereabouts not disclosed by Beijing authorities

See Archinect's feature interview with Ai Weiwei here.

Ai Weiwei put on house arrest

2010-11-06T15:26:49-04:00

Ai, who is also an architectural designer, had been building a studio in Shanghai suburb on a plot of farmland containing a derelict warehouse. After two years he received notice in July that the building was illegal and would be demolished. The house arrest is said to prevent him going to that event. Archinect featured an exclusive interview of the artist by Adrian Blackwell in 2006.
Ai, who is also an architectural designer, had been building a studio in Shanghai suburb on a plot of farmland containing a derelict warehouse. After two years he received notice in July that the building was illegal and would be demolished. The house arrest is said to prevent him going to that event. Archinect featured an exclusive interview of the artist by Adrian Blackwell in 2006. AP

Ai Weiwei beat up by Chinese secret police

2009-09-20T02:01:50-04:00

Surgeons at a clinic in Munich on Monday performed surgery on 51-year-old Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, after diagnosing a cerebral hemorhage on the right side of his brain. Mr. Weiwei accuses government for injury. spiegel