Art Hag

Ai Weiwei's must-see According to What? has arrived at the Brooklyn Museum—a triumphant final stop for the touring exhibition. The Brooklyn Museum features 30 works spanning over 20 years of the multimedia artist and activist's career. Many of these works were displayed at the Hirshhorn Museum last year (see my post here), however, Brooklyn has a few newer works on view that were created after the artist's 81-day detention by the Chinese government in 2011. The museum's lobby has on display S.A.C.R.E.D., 6 large iron boxes equipped with small windows allowing viewers to peer into claustrophoic scenes of Ai's imprisonment. The detailed fiberglass reenactments show two officers watching the artist closely in his cell as he sleeps, eats, showers, and uses the toilet.

A site-specific installation, Stacked (2014), features 700 stainless steel bicycles neatly arranged into a towering piece that reflects on the artist's childhood as well as represents an important part of daily life to many people in China.

Up in the museum's fifth and fourth floors, be sure to check out Ye Haiyan's Belongings (2013), an installation composed of the actual possessions of an activist who campaigns for women's rights and AIDS awareness. Due to her activisim, Ye and her family have been evicted from their home by the Chinese authorities on several occasions. In the early morning of July 6, 2013, secret police went to Ye's home, forced her and her family to pack their belongings, drove them out of town, and dumped them and their possessions on the side of the road, ordering them not to return. The installation is a precise reconstruction of Ye's belongings after being dropped off in the middle of nowhere. In a room just off the gallery where Ye Haiyan's Belongings is on display, be sure to watch Stay Home! (2013) a video telling the heart wrenching story of Liu Ximei, who at 10 years old, after suffering a serious injury while working on the fields, was given a transfusion with HIV-contaminated blood.

Also, check out a bit of 258 Fake (2003 - 2011), a video installation featuring 12 monitors showcasing photos taken between 2003 - 2011 (some posted to Ai's blog before the government shut it down in 2009). Organized in categories like animals, architecture, exhibitions, and food, the images offer viewers a glimpse into the artist's studio, his everyday life, as well as his sense of humor.

Since Ai's passport was confiscated by Chinese authorities, he was unable to travel to Brooklyn to oversee the installation of the exhibition. Read a short article on how the artist, the exhibit's curator, Sharon Matt Atkins, and 4 installers worked around this obstacle at brooklynpaper.com. Learn more about Ai Weiwei: According to What? at brooklynmuseum.org. Through August 10th.