The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been inundated with offers of Lego after posting on his Instagram that his studio’s bulk order of the plastic bricks for a show in Australia was turned down by the company.
A message posted on Friday (23 October) states: ‘In September Lego refused Ai Weiwei Studio’s request for a bulk order of Legos to create artwork to be shown at the National Gallery of Victoria [Melbourne, Australia] as “they cannot approve the use of Legos for political works”.’
In a further statement from the artist, the decision not to sell the bulk order was described as “an act of censorship and discrimination”.
The statement adds that Lego were contacted by the gallery’s curatorial team in relation to the show Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei, which opens on 11 December.
According to Ai, a reply from Lego stated that, while ‘we realize that artists may have an interest in using LEGO elements, or casts hereof, as an integrated part of their piece of art’, they were unable to fulfil the bulk order.
Lego dissidents?
Last year, Ai created Lego portraits of dissidents for an exhibition on the site of the former Alcatraz prison near San Francisco, and it is thought a similar piece is planned for the Melbourne show.
As the offers of Lego continue to come in, another Instagram post from Ai states: ‘Lego’s position triggered a torrent of outrage on social media against this assault on creativity and freedom of expression.
‘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. This is the first phase of the coming projects.’
