Ai Weiwei

Anti-War Design IQD 80

BIOGRAPHY

Ai Weiwei, renowned artist, designer, activist, architect, and filmmaker, was born in Beijing in 1957. From 1961 to 1976, his family was exiled to a rural region following political persecution of his father, the celebrated poet Ai Qing. After returning to Beijing, Ai graduated from the Beijing Film Academy before turning his focus to the avant-garde art scene. In the late 1970s, he co-founded the Stars (Xingxing) art group. In 1980, together with the collective, he organized an exhibition at the China Art Gallery, marking the first presentation of contemporary art within a Chinese museum institution. In 1981, Ai relocated to the United States, first living in Philadelphia and San Francisco before settling in New York, where he carried out much of his artistic activity. During this period, he studied at two prestigious institutions: Parsons The New School for Design and the Art Students League of New York. In 1993, Ai returned to China and contributed to the founding of Beijing’s East Village, an experimental community of avant-garde artists. In 1997, he co-founded and became artistic director of the China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW). In 1999, he began working in architecture and established his studio in Caochangdi, on the northern outskirts of Beijing. In 2003, he founded FAKE Design and created Map of China, a celebrated sculptural puzzle made from reclaimed wood from Qing Dynasty temples (1644–1911) destroyed by the regime. Ai Weiwei collaborated extensively with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, together winning the competition for the Beijing National Stadium (the “Bird’s Nest”) and designing the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London. In 2008, he was invited by the Shanghai authorities to build a studio in Malu Town as part of a plan to develop the area into an artists’ district. That same year, a devastating earthquake in Sichuan caused approximately 70,000 deaths, including thousands of students killed in the collapse of poorly constructed schools. Ai publicly accused the Chinese government of using substandard materials and published on his blog the names of over 5,000 deceased children. In 2009, his blog was shut down by the authorities. In 2010, the Shanghai municipal government ordered the closure and demolition of his Malu Town studio, which was destroyed on January 11, although Ai managed to salvage parts of the building. In 2011, he was detained for 81 days, during which time his Shanghai studio was demolished by local authorities. His arrest sparked a global campaign for his release. Although freed, he was banned from leaving China until 2015. In 2017, Ai Weiwei directed the documentary Human Flow, presented at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Among his most celebrated works are Sunflower Seeds (2010), an installation of millions of hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds; Fairytale (2007), which brought 1,001 Chinese citizens to Documenta; Snake Bag (2008), a serpent-like installation made of children’s backpacks commemorating the victims of the Sichuan earthquake; Forever Bicycles (2011), a monumental assemblage of bicycles symbolizing mobility and social control; and multiple series using LEGO bricks, including his reinterpretation of The Last Supper, as well as numerous reinterpretations of classical artworks and installations addressing political and social themes.

Anti-War Design

Since the end of the Second World War, and following an 80-year-long wave of construction, we now witness those continuous efforts being undone by wars. What human beings experience as their built environment – architecture, construction – is now inseparable from its own destruction, from ruins. In a sense, humanity has always been engaged in both construction and destruction, in dismantling and rebuilding. This cycle is part of our history. Today, we see this on an unprecedented scale: Israel has dropped far more bombs on Gaza than the WWI bombings of London, Hamburg and Dresden combined – within just a tens of square kilometers. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, war has evolved. It is no longer traditional – it has become a war of drones, of computer-directed and screen-controlled attacks. The means of destruction, the ethics of warfare, and the blurred line between military and civilian targets have all contributed to a new war ecosystem. People have not yet fully awakened to this reality. The new logic of destruction, and the shifting modes of dismantling buildings, has not only undermined humanity’s role as a builder, but also – psychologically – eroded our sense of safety and security, and our understanding of what constitutes an attack.