Weiwei Always Wins

Julie Headland

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  • 2012
  • acrylic on canvas
  • 48 h x 108 w in.
  • artist notes
    "A small act is worth a million thoughts. The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay." -Ai Weiwei This piece is influenced by Ai Weiwei’s photo triptych, "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn", 1995, where the artist dropped an ancient ceramic vase to the floor, demonstrating his questioning attitude toward cultural values and social history. My piece turns Weiwei into the image of a child, so he appears less threatening while more whimsical and captivating. The inscription, Weiwei Always Wins, interjects provocation and ego onto a child. The intrigue for me? Small children don’t care about “winning” but they are very good at asking questions - especially truth-seeking questions. This is the mutual aim of both Weiwei’s original performance piece and my playful parody. Both prompt the viewer toward truth-seeking questions.