How did the London trip go last Thursday?
I can say that apart from being a boring 2 hour journey plus some interesting nice talks with some classmates on the way there and back, it turned out to be a very interesting day for me. As we got off the coach we walk up trafalgar road and just to the left side we approached the royal academy where it housed the work of artists such as Ai WeiWei. I primarily wanted to go to London to see his work as he is one of my best inspirations and also use him as research.
Ai WeiWei had a significant amount of nice works made from natural different woods and other materials to make most of his sculptures. In the court yard area just where the entrance is, I came across some trees that looked like dead trees but actually it is a mixture of dead logs found in the mountains. I thought these were very nice and given me a clear story of how old things die away but can still be used to create something very special such as these trees.
 What kind of meaning do Ai WeiWei’s works point out to people?
All of the works that are shown above have given me some clear inspiration of what kind of work Ai WeiWei makes and how his work influences directly on Chinese government. His artwork to me points out towards a political aspect within his art where he constantly sources his thoughts secretly through his artwork making a political statement against what the chinese government are doing wrong.
Some of his works clearly shows the pain and frustration that Ai WeiWei has been through and seems like he is regarded as a free speaker in England of what he feels against the chinese government but has been restrained from doing so many times by the Chinese. I think that the reactions of his artwork by his audience are deeply astonished because seeing some chinese viewers there seem also frustrated to what the chinese government are doing to their own people.
I noticed one Chinese guy in the gallery watching the bulldozers destroy Ai WeiWei’s studio and he looked like he could not bare to watch it being destroyed, shuck his head with frustration and moved on like there is no hope… I think that Ai WeiWei’s work acts like a free speaker against the Chinese government and how these kind of rights impact not only us british but Chinese people as a whole. To me his work is quite strong and is a long ongoing theme that will always keep fighting to make a strong point with many Chinese supporters behind him and his work. This was how I felt when I was there at the gallery and has left me wondering what great artworks I can do of my own and have gained some new ideas that should turn out to be successful…
