Today I braved the rain and slushy sidewalks and went to a spectacular art exhibit at the "Haus der Kunst." It was the last day of the show called "so sorry" by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and I'm really glad I didn't miss it. Artist Ai is fond of turning convention on its head and making art out of things we don't always consider art... but he does it in a way unlike other unconventional artists. You know the idea that some modern art takes simple objects, or a canvas painted all in one color, or a cube and calls it "art," and we are supposed to accept that such things are art, or at least question what we consider art. Somehow, that has never worked very well for me. Ai, in contrast, makes sculptures out of tree trunks, ancient Chinese tables and vases, and pressed tea leaves, among other things, and they truly fill you with awe. He fills enormous rooms and spaces with these sculptures that seem to live and breathe.
The picture above is the front of the Haus der Kunst; the colored squares are actually backpacks that represent children who died in schools in the 2008 earthquakes in China and whose names were never released by the government. The picture below is from a huge room at the art museum; it's a long rectangle-shaped space, with a very high ceiling, and there are 1000 pictures of individual Chinese people on all four walls. The room is filled with large stumps and roots of old trees, and on the floor are woven rug tiles that exactly match the granite tiles of the room. It sounds a bit odd, but the effect is stunning.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera along. These images are from Andreas Hirsch and Stephan Schobloch on Flickr.com.
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