Ai Wei Wei's current exhibition @Large, on Alcatraz Island in San Fransisco Bay, constitutes a seven part installation around the remains of the infamous penitentiary centre. The following is an analysis on two select works:
'Blossom' 2014
Located in the medical wing, upstairs in Alcatraz prison, Ai Wei Wei's installation 'Blossom' is exhibited. Old bathtubs, sinks and toilet basins are filled to the brim with delicate white, porcelain flowers. With a notoriously high suicide rate, the two isolation cells for mental patients are now filled with the solemn bouquets. Ai's blossoms, reminiscent of funerary and 'get well soon' offerings, offer genuine respect for the deep human suffering that still remains through the tattered rooms. "The flower installation oozes a delicate but defiant autobiographical dimension", writes Christopher Knight of the LA Times. The floral profusion recalls Chairman Mao's 1956 invitation to the Chinese people for critical advice on the communist state; "let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend". Inundated with copious responses, one of which was Ai's father, the Chinese dictator quickly pulled the plug, and began an immense crackdown on those dissidents.
'With Wind' 2014
A giant, colourful dragon kite whose tails flow through a large room in the New Industries Building are another of Ai's installations 'With Wind'. The traditional Chinese dragon kite is the mythological symbol of power and freedom; however, this kite is anything but. Confided between the many columns attached to the low ceiling, this dragon is unable to fly. Ai says that for him, the dragon represents a personal freedom: "everybody has this power". The individual kites that make up the creature's body carry the words of prisoners of conscience and the symbols of the countries that have imprisoned them, including Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden and Ai himself. The ferocious head of the dragon confronts visitors as they enter the building; the bright colours and careful craftsmanship irrevocably dissident against the peeling paint and heavy atmosphere.
'Blossom' 2014
Located in the medical wing, upstairs in Alcatraz prison, Ai Wei Wei's installation 'Blossom' is exhibited. Old bathtubs, sinks and toilet basins are filled to the brim with delicate white, porcelain flowers. With a notoriously high suicide rate, the two isolation cells for mental patients are now filled with the solemn bouquets. Ai's blossoms, reminiscent of funerary and 'get well soon' offerings, offer genuine respect for the deep human suffering that still remains through the tattered rooms. "The flower installation oozes a delicate but defiant autobiographical dimension", writes Christopher Knight of the LA Times. The floral profusion recalls Chairman Mao's 1956 invitation to the Chinese people for critical advice on the communist state; "let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend". Inundated with copious responses, one of which was Ai's father, the Chinese dictator quickly pulled the plug, and began an immense crackdown on those dissidents.
'With Wind' 2014
A giant, colourful dragon kite whose tails flow through a large room in the New Industries Building are another of Ai's installations 'With Wind'. The traditional Chinese dragon kite is the mythological symbol of power and freedom; however, this kite is anything but. Confided between the many columns attached to the low ceiling, this dragon is unable to fly. Ai says that for him, the dragon represents a personal freedom: "everybody has this power". The individual kites that make up the creature's body carry the words of prisoners of conscience and the symbols of the countries that have imprisoned them, including Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden and Ai himself. The ferocious head of the dragon confronts visitors as they enter the building; the bright colours and careful craftsmanship irrevocably dissident against the peeling paint and heavy atmosphere.