HUFFINGTON
09.30.12
THE DISRUPTOR
stand what unfair treatment is
or a disrespect of rights are,” Ai
stresses. Experiencing freedom
and respect for individualism
while living in the States — combined with his adolescence in
China and his career as an artist
— made him a political person.
“I thank God, or thank the communists or thank evil or whatever
— it gives me the opportunity to
exercise an individual’s potential
in such circumstances, and I think
that’s a miracle.” Ai continues on
darkly, turning to metaphors as
he often does. “And of course all
miracles in life are ephemeral. It’s
just light, and it turns to shadow.”
More and more, Ai is assuming
the role of amused philosophizer,
one more interested in twisting
words around themselves to make
a moral argument, quite often in
140 characters or less.
“He was regarded as ‘God Ai’
in the Twitter community, because he represented the funniest way to be political,” journalist
Michael Anti said.
The internet (which “makes
me very happy,” Ai adds) may
not give him the tactile product
his more traditional art does,
but leaving a permanent mark
has never been a priority for Ai.
“Nothing is forever,” he says.
“Our idea of forever is an illusion,
and maybe the illusion is forever.”
It’s the right attitude for someone who’s broken Han Dynasty
urns for his craft, and whose architectural projects get razed by
the government. His studio in
Shanghai, which took two years to
design and build, was demolished
in 2011, along with a neighboring
studio he’d designed for a friend.
“How many buildings can have
the opportunity to be destroyed
the moment they’re built? This
is a rare situation,” Ai says facetiously. “I’m very privileged to
see all those things happen to
me. I can bear it.” Thanks to his
environmental obstacles, Ai’s
creative process is often like a
game of call-and-response, with
his work and political roadblocks
fueling one another. The razing fits into Ai’s broader artistic
commentary, making one more
notch in his argument: Chinese
society is dysfunctional. The only
snag is that the more his argument feels true, the more it feels
like talking to a wall.
“I like to make a few arguments, but nobody ever argues,
they just want to secretly do some
kind of dirty tricks,” he sighs.