https://instagram.com/p/9Ll1WmKD47/
by Agape Charmani
One of the things art school taught me is that contemporary art is one big boiling pot that includes everything -and I mean everything, that exists in this world. I think of the mixture inside the pot, as a bright, stinky pulp that makes weird sounds, and explodes every time someone adds something in it. One of the people that have been involved in the cooking of this mixture, is Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
And when someone introduced the beloved artist to Instagram, this mixture kind of exploded! His latest addition to the expanding art reality on social media is his outrage against The Lego Group. The company refused to sell him a bulk order for a new exhibit in Australia, something that of course didn’t and would not stop the famous artist.
Lego is giving us the definition of what is "political",and all the big corporations are telling us what to love or hate. that awesome.
— 艾未未 Ai Weiwei (@aiww) October 25, 2015
Weiwei has been planning the Lego artwork since June for the upcoming Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei show at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The exhibition opens in December 2015 and in one of his many Instagram posts, the artist slammed the Lego company, “In September 2015 Lego refused to sell Ai Weiwei Studio a bulk order of Lego bricks for Ai’s artworks to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on the basis of the works’ “political” nature. Ai posted this notice on his Instagram on Friday, October 23rd. Lego’s position triggered a torrent of outrage on social media against this assault on creativity and freedom of expression. Numerous supporters offered to donate Lego to Ai. In response to Lego’s refusal and the overwhelming public response, Ai Weiwei has now decided to make a new work to defend freedom of speech and “political art”. Ai Weiwei Studio will announce the project description and Lego collection points in different cities.”
His thousands of fans didn’t receive well this refusal and their reaction and support was overwhelming. Many offered Weiwei their own Lego collections with the hashtag #LegosForWeiwei, which the artist accepted and announced he’ll establish collection sites across the world.
We know Weiwei, we know his work and his passion about it, and all we have to say is, the joke’s on you Lego people.
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