Today's artist: Ai Weiwei, a Chinese contemporary artist who challenges the Chinese political society with his works in an aggressive way.
As a Chinese background person, I always think there is a gap between Chinese people and Chinese government. China is a really interesting country to me, because it is the country which is influenced by both traditional and contemporary culture. I do see a lot of contradictions that breaks the harmony of the whole Chinese society, which is why I'm curious about it all the time.
From a personal standing point, I think Chinese people in general are not aggressive enough to express themselves, or they are not encouraged to be aggressive. While Ai Weiwei is probably one of the few exceptions.
Ai Weiwei is the artist who combines both traditional elements and contemporary elements altogether in his works. More specifically, he challenges the current Chinese society and traditions with a strong contemporary energy through his works. He talks a lot about freedom of speech, because in China, social media or any types of media are highly controlled by the government, which turns out that most Chinese people don't really understand the meaning of freedom speech, or they might not take it as their own human rights. Ai Weiwei is the man who lives in such gap, the man who actually fights for freedom of speech along with the Chinese government.
Aggression is one of the most romantic thing to me. It is the behaviour that every artist/designer's must have. Art should mean something or should reflect a life, a moment or a society in a specific period of time. What I like the most about Ai Weiwei is his aggression and his expressive style. I think such expressive style is what the whole Chinese society lack of the most. I love to see someone that actually stands up and breaks into the silence to make something happen. However, not only China, but the rest of the world. The world is boring right now, and the only way to make it fun is to break the silence.
Art is not just about skills anymore. Instead, it is more about expression, culture and personality. It is how you see the world, how you observe and how you perceive. It is the ability that shows what's unique about yourself. No matter what kind of art you make, no matter it is positive or negative, it will always become the part of the history. Ai Weiwei definitely becomes an inspiration to me in this case. His way of understanding Chinese culture, society and lifestyles really impresses me. There is not good art or bad art, and there is no ugliness or beauty in art. Art is to make people feel. It is something that connects to your personal emotions. If you say a piece of artwork is ugly or beautiful, I would say a piece artwork would make me angry, happy or sad.
Life must be original, and art must be original. No matter who you are, where you from, what cultural background you have, the only thing that can define you is yourself. For every artist and its work, what becomes fascinating is the story behind them.
