Studio 1 Final Project

 

Sunflower Seeds:

Warm Texture

Rectangular enclosed Space

Seeds are evenly flattened out

Explores the relationship between the Sun (Mao) and the seeds (Citizens)

 

 

The trio Mao:

Simplicity of this plain portrait of Mao, white lining on the collar

Color Pallete-Red (Prosperity), Black (Darkness), White (Empty)

Symbols: CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Cultural revolution, Mask (two-sided)

Different hand gestures signify different attitudes toward him

 

Background Context:

Ai Weiwei, the most controversial Chinese artist, and activist living today, calls attention to human rights violations on a large scale in his unique definition of art. Ai’s childhood wasn’t so pleasant; his father Ai Qing, who’s known to be one of the finest modern Chinese poets, was imprisoned both before and after Ai’s birth during Mao’s anti- intellectual campaign. The family then lived in exile for years, and Ai only had a large encyclopedia, which basically sums up his education. His family was allowed to return to China after Mao’s death in 1976. He spent his early 20s in New York as an art student, and then later returned to China where the environment was far less open. Ai saw the difference between those two distinct cultures but refused to conform.

 

 

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