Ai Weiwei Offers Yet Another Reason to Visit San Francisco

Aside from the food, the Instagram-worthy trolley cars, Golden Gate Bridge, and, of course, the surrounding wine country, famed international artist Ai Weiwei offers yet another reason to hit San Francisco this fall and winter.

It involves Lego, political controversy, and one of the world’s most famous jails…

Told you you’d be into it.

Taking over the former prison (and tourist hotspot) of Alcatraz, Weiwei’s latest exhibition, @Large, features seven installations and is designed to highlight hot topic issues of oppression, loss of freedom, human expression, justice, and punishment.

Perhaps most impressively, in what required 1.2 million pieces of Lego, Weiwei oversaw the creation of 176 portraits of political prisoners from both the past and present. It features everyone from Nelson Mandela to Edward Snowden.

As you probably know, Weiwei himself was incarcerated in 2011 for 81 days for tax invasion after conducting an investigation and vocally challenging the government on the sub par construction of schools that collapsed during China’s 2008 earthquake. For that reason, he’s not been able to leave the country since.

Yes, that means he did this entire project without ever visiting the site.

To get the job done, he turned to San Francisco art world staple Cheryl Haines, who put the exhibition together in just nine months. Her non-profit organization For-Site Foundation is known for installing sometimes-controversial art in unconventional places.

And this is certainly both of those things.

The exhibit applauds some of the Obama administration’s most debated antagonists (i.e. Edward Snowden) and highlights some of the most unjust moments in American history, in addition to praising other political prisoners in China and the Middle East.

Highlights include:
With Wind – a visually stimulating installation made from 100 hand-painted kites that resemble a massive Chinese dragon in an installation that’s filled with quotes from Weiwei and other influential political activists (including Snowden).

The Trace Lego Portrait Series – a collection of Lego portraits of individuals from around the world who’ve been incarcerated based on their political beliefs.

Yours Truly – an interactive installation in the dining hall that invites guests to send post cards to political prisoners.

Stay Tuned – located in Cell Block A, it involves an almost eerie echo of songs, poems, voice recordings, and religious chants of persecuted people throughout history that are transmitted into individual cell blocks. This is complete with a lonely steel stool for your listening pleasure.

The tourist-filled spot was a smart choice to not only to expose a large audience to Weiwei’s art, but also to educate people on the important political issues behind it.

The exhibition runs September 27th to April 26th.

You have seven months left – start planning.

 

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