This assignment has two part of the questions
1st part of assigment
The painting below (covered on page 222 of your textbook) depicts an art exhibition held in Beijing in the early 20th century.
Picture attached below (chen_viewing_paitings.jpg)
Think about how works like the ones shown in the painting would have been viewed in previous eras and who would have had access to them. What does this painting reveal about changing art-viewing practices in China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty? How do the ways art is displayed here compare to practices today? Consider both the benefits and drawbacks of these changes.
(at least 200 words)
2nd part of the assigment
The often political nature of Ai Weiwei’s art has made him a controversial figure, especially in China, where he has been openly critical of the government.
In the work shown below, Ai is captured in the process of dropping an urn made during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) and allowing it to smash on the ground. Ai has said in reference to this work, ‘It’s powerful only because someone thinks it’s powerful and invests value in the object.
Picture attached below (ai_weiwei_dropping_urn.png)
Part 1:
What are your thoughts on this work? Why has Ai destroyed this ancient object? Can you find Ai’s political message in this work? What about a message about art in general? Is this an act of vandalism or is it a meaningful work of art? ( a paragraph)
Part 2:
Read through your classmates’ responses and engage with at least one of them. Did their post help you to understand the work better? Has anything prompted you to reevaluate your own response? Is there anything you disagree with? (at least 50 words)
Classmate’s post
I really enjoy and appreciate photography so I think Ai Weiwei did a good job of getting his message across. This work is very creative and he gets his point very well. Ai destroyed this ancient object because he wanted to make the point that art and society are modernizing and old art and traditions are being changed or “broken”. I think that the reason he created this work politically was to show the effects of the Cultural Revolution and the leadership of Chairman Mao. Mao wanted to change the artwork to fit a more socialist perspective which soon led to the modernization of art. In general, Ai was trying to say that in order to move on, we must create a new way of doing things and get rid of the old ways. Therefore, he wants to get rid of old traditions and replace them with new ones. I don’t think that this is vandalism because he is using this old art to create new art. The use of breaking old art just shows the creativity of the artist and his unique way of thinking.
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