The tripartite documentation of this now-famous act is the perfect illustration of Newton's three Laws of Motion: a poker-faced Ai holding the urn (the law of inertia . Dalland, Reviewed: A Glorious Carnival, at Least for an Hour or So. In 1981 Ai moved to New York, where he studied visual art and began working as an artist. Accessibility StatementFor more information contact us atinfo@libretexts.org. Ai, WeiWei Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn Influenced by pop art, and defining art of Andy Warhol Ai, WeiWei Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn Whether he reworks a discarded four-hundred-year-old wooden stool into a standing sculpture or creates an installation from hundreds of salvaged blue and white ceramic shards, Ai is interested in giving these historical found objects a second life as contemporary art. Discuss the meaning of Ais statement regarding this work: Its powerful only because someone thinks its powerful and invests value in the object.. Most people felt that it was very unethical to destroy any artifact under any circumstances, even if it was his original work or intended to create art. Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn - Smarthistory In a 2009 piece in Art & Education, Kristen M. Osborne noted some of the headlines of newspaper stories: AMERICAN EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK TEEMS WITH THE BIZARREALL SCHOOLS WELCOMEQUEER CONCEPTIONS OF INSURGENTS VIE WITH CONSERVATIVES WORKS (the Chicago Tribune), A REMARKABLE AFFAIR DESPITE SOME FREAKISH ABSURDITIES (the New York Tribune), FLYING WEDGE OF FUTURISTS ARMED WITH PAINT AND BRUSH BATTERS LINE OF REGULARS IN TERRIFIC ART WAR. (the New York Herald). (Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2010), pp. On the one hand we can view his work as a destruction of another artists work; on the other, Ais act can also be thought of as a kind of collaboration with an ancient artist over thousands of yearsa revitalization. The show is organized in six chronological and thematic sections occupying the second floor at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. For this reason, Ai began collecting antiquities, particularly ancient vessels and furniture, and eventually began converting these objects into contemporary artworks. This kind of repurposing of the past also relates to Chinese aesthetics and culture. Art mirrors life, and life mirrors art. For this performance, it seems that the object selection is almost immaterialit might as well have been any ancient object. Jaune Quick-To-See Smith's, Daniel Libeskind, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, UK, Contemporary Native American Architecture, Birdhead We Photograph Things That Are Meaningful To Us, Artist Richard Bell My Art is an Act of Protest, Contemporary politics and classical architecture, Artist Dale Harding Environment is Part of Who You Are, Art, Race, and the Internet: Mendi + Keith Obadikes, Magdalene Anyango N. Odundo, Symmetrical Reduced Black Narrow-Necked Tall Piece, Mickalene Thomas on her Materials and Artistic Influences, Mona Hatoum Nothing Is a Finished Project, Artist Profile: Sopheap Pich on Rattan, Sculpture, and Abstraction. The work is widely available online, and even the focus of academic essays like this one. Ai countered the outrage from people by describing what General Mao used to tell them: The only way of building a new world is by destroying the old one. Do you think the piece would be much more controversial if the urn was more expensive? Ai moved to the United States in 1981, studying contemporary art in New York and beginning to work as an artist. Required fields are marked *, newsletter | pinterest | instagram | youtube | rss. ", https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.42.html/2016/contemporary-art-evening-auction-l16020, The Art Assignment, The Case for Ai Weiwei, Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres, A Battlefield of Judgments: Ai Weiwei as Collector,, Joseph L Sax, Collectors: Private Vices, Public Benefits, in. Gateway to Art: Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn - Chegg In summer open until 8:00 pm (through September 17) The return of Ai Weiwei to China after living in New York City for more than a decade in 19811993 marked the beginning of a new form of art, dedicating some of his works to the themes of transformation and destruction. Some might view this act as pure vandalism, while others will see it as an artistic statement that challenges the status quo. Many feel that it is unethical to destroy an artifact under any circumstancesthat such an act indicates a lack of value and respect. The service requires full cookie support in order to view this website. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. and more. He hadnt even seen the painting, but he had read all about it in the papers. Ai Weiwei In 1995 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (b. When the International Exhibition of Modern Art made its dbut in New York, in 1913, showcasing thirteen hundred recent works of European and American art, the response among critics was as schismatic as it was sensationalnot because of record sales but because of the art itself. a true obliteration? if someone not claiming to be an 'artist' had done this, it would have been a crime against cultural heritage. OFF THE WALL: The Han Dynasty Urn is Fragile 1957) created a time-based work that sparked great This act came as a shock to the art world. Ultimately the work demands a judgment: was the provocation and the global attention Ai garnered for the urn worth the destruction of the urn itself? These photographs are displayed in museums and public institutions around the world. INITIAL RESPONSE: This piece of artwork is called, "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn." It is a description of what is happening in the image. The destruction of this art piece is displayed in a series of three black and white photographs that show Ai dropping a 2000-year-old ceremonial Han Dynasty Urn. Angelo Mao is a biomedical research scientist. Private Guided Tours are available by appointment. How can the destruction of an artifact also be an act of preservation? For example, Fu Haos tomb in Anyang, a, This is an important revelation because it suggests that more than three t, Ai Weiwei has chosen an unusual way of continuing this legacy of transforming the material past while at the same time expressing dissent against a country that sometimes obliterates its own cultural heritage: through direct confrontation. From the artists point of view, his act was one of preservation through transformation. He had became fascinated with China's traditional heritage that Mao had tried to wipe out during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Through such sensational acts and, at times, arguably violent and radical forms of expression, Ai directs our gaze to the issue of state power and social challenges, prompting active debate. Additionally, his artwork has also tackled one of the major challenges facing artists, antiquities theft. Direct link to David Alexander's post It is clear from the artw. Maximo Caminero, a Miami-based artist, was named in a police affidavit as the defendant. Video footage of the event shows a large triptych of photographs on the wall behind the vases, which depict Ai dropping an urn from chest height, in the same manner as Caminero. . And Camineros protest against the millions spent on international artists at Prez, however ill conceived, raises real questions about celebrity artists, like Ai, and about the best use of a museums budget. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995 is a show-stealer that depicts Ai Weiwei destroying a precious artifact. Many feel that it is unethical to destroy an artifact under any circumstancesthat such an act indicates a lack of value and respect. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (on Presidential Inauguration Weekend) Ai Weiwei's Dropping a Han dynasty urn 1995 is composed of three large-scale black-and-white photographs depicting the artist in the act of dropping a highly valuable, millennia-old ceramic urn. On the one hand we can view his work as a destruction of another artists work; on the other, Ais act can also be thought of as a kind of collaboration with an ancient artist over thousands of yearsa revitalization. Born in Beijing, China, in 1957, Ai Weiwei is an activist, filmmaker, curator and one of the worlds most famous artists. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn is a painstakingly deliberate close-up of the split seconds required to permanently transform an artifact that had survived over two thousand years. For millennia before the advent of modern scientific archeology, rulers and elites collected ancient materials and acted to preserve them or emulate them in new works, whether it was preserving important documents by recording them, on durable surfaces like stone steles or incorporating ancient designs into bronze or ceramics. There is scant evidence that the vase, which was on loan from the artist and had never been auctioned or sold, would sell for anything close to a million dollars. Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio Image courtesy Ai . This series of three black and white photographs portray the artist holding a 2,000-year-old Han dynasty urn that, frame by frame, he drops, it falls, and shatters. The sensationalism of breaking something so old and rare is what modern audiences find so compelling. Ai broke two urns worth a few thousand dollars[2] to complete this series of photographs, as the first group of photographs failed to capture the process.[3]. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn is a set of three photographs that show the artist holding and dropping a two-thousand-year-old urn from the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), which then smashes on the floor. How much is an urn, like the one Ai Weiwei dropped, worth today? The preposterous price was exactly the pointit critiqued art-world avarice and the spectacle of consumption even as it participated in the fray. Ai Weiwei's "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn" (1995) is a slightly larger-than-life triptych of black-and-white photographs that document a performance. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011), p. 63. https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.42.html/2016/contemporary-art-evening-auction-l16020, https://smarthistory.org/ai-weiwei-dropping-a-han-dynasty-urn/. Though originally shot just to test the burst mode function on a camera and done without any real meaning behind it, the work became one of the . Ultimately the work demands a judgment: was the provocation and the global attention Ai garnered for the urn worth the destruction of the urn itself? Indeed, law professor Joseph Sax calls such destruction a kind of unqualified ownership because it enables the indulgence of private vice to obliterate public benefits. [, Certainly, the destruction of art for ideological or egoistic reasons reflects badly on a collector of ancient objects. But, of all the intriguing convergences of art and money suggested by the destruction of Ai Weiweis vase, by far the least interesting is the objects monetary value. Given Ais own celebrity status and the significance of this artwork, is also now far more valuable than the original ceramic object. The act is easyevery day we can drop something, but it is when we are forced to come face to face with this action and make a judgment that is the interesting. The act is easyevery day we can drop something, but it is when we are forced to come face to face with this action and make a judgment that is the interesting. Ai claims that he actually destroyed two urns in the process of creating the artwork, but his photographer was not able to capture the smashing of the first urn. All images by Ai Weiwei studio unless otherwise noted. author@Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres, "Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn," in Smarthistory, August 25, 2020, accessed December 4, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/ai-weiwei-dropping-a-han-dynasty-urn/. For millennia before the advent of modern scientific archeology, rulers and elites collected ancient materials and acted to preserve them or emulate them in new works, whether it was preserving important documents by recording them on durable surfaces like stone steles or incorporating ancient designs into bronze or ceramics.
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