Documents 

Ai Weiwei's work is an audacious blend of old and new, Western and Eastern, serious and irreverent. He has translated the readymade into a new artistic language, fusing neolithic pottery, fourteenth-century doors and seventeenth-century temple beams into surprising, at times shocking sculptures. He has documented his disdain for authority by giving the finger to the Tiananmen in Beijing, the Reichstag in Berlin and the White House in Washington. And he has captured the mundane urban sprawl of his home city in a 150-hour video (Beijing 2003) that even dwarfs Andy Warhol's notorious eight-hour Empire. What marks Ai as a truly twenty-first-century artist is precisely this multiplicity of roles: not just artist, designer and architect, but also curator, publisher, Web blogger and compass for an entire generation of Beijing artists. His outsize public persona is an integral part of his art. Although his outspoken views have brought him unwanted attention from the State, they have also generated excitement far beyond China's borders. Karen Smith's Survey traces the artist's remarkable career from his early days in Beijing to his discovery of the Western avant-garde in New York and his recent emergence as a celebrated sculptor and architect. In the Interview Hans Ulrich Obrist discusses with the artist his father's artistic training and subsequent exile and the effects they had on his own views on art and authority. Bernard Fibicher's Focus looks at the monumental light sculpture Descending Light (2007). Artist's Choice features a poem by Ai Qing, one of China's most important twentieth-century writers. Artist's Writings include entries from Ai's blog, seen by millions of visitors each year and celebrated for its thoughtful and candid remarks on the subjects of art, politics and culture. [editor summary]