One Tiger, Eight Breasts

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  • January 1, 2012 at 4:45 am #26351
    Anonymous
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    I went to LACMA and saw the zodiac heads, and was completely unimpressed. I thought they were going to be much bigger, more daunting. the dragon was the only one with real character, and I thought the boar (my year) was put together well but could not compare with the beautiful dragon. Plus, why did LACMA decide to put them surrounding an elevator? I thought that was almost disgraceful to Weiwei, but maybe that is what they meant since he is so controversial.

    January 1, 2012 at 4:47 am #4508
    Rob_Hugo@PortNW
    Keymaster

    So, the artist Ai Weiwei is in the news again. Some may have seen his impressive sculptures at LACMA of the Zodiac heads on poles. Besides his art, he is also known for constantly battling the government over the issue of free speech. He is daringly outspoken. The Chinese government jailed him for nearly three months and then demanded he pay a $2.4 million tax bill, which he has only paid a portion of, thanks in part to online donations. The latest news in the struggle between Ai and the Chinese government centers around an investigation one of his assistants for spreading pornography on the Internet. The photo in question is titled "One Tiger, Eight Breasts," and features Ai and four naked women.

    Is the photograph, art or pornography? I guess that depends on whom you ask and if you ask the Chinese government they will say it is pornography. This dispute highlights a continual free speech debate that has been raging for a long time everywhere in the world. The question of what is it art and whether the Chinese government or any government for that matter can dictate what is art is a compelling issue that we can bring up in a government class. There are many Supreme Court cases that deal with the issues of obscenity and pornography that can be analyzed and debated and Ai Weiwei has provided us a good introduction to a lesson about free speech. Here is link if you would like more information and I have also provided the picture in question, so viewer discretion is advised.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/18/ai-weiwei-investigation-nude-art?newsfeed=true

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    January 1, 2012 at 4:47 am #26352
    Anonymous
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    Oh, i forgot- did anyone read the TIME article on Weiwei about being a runner-up for "person of the year"? It was really fascinating and I enjoyed learning so much about him as an artist. I am starting a new program in my government class and the photo class on campus (interdisciplinary) where they have the artistic components of the picture but for my government class they have to discuss the political background of the picture. I will be using some of his pieces mentioned in the article and on the link mcovarrubias mentioned. here is the times article: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102133_2102331,00.html

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