Remembering, Ai Weiwei’s installation of 9,000 backpacks conceived for the façade of Haus der Kunst reading “She lived happily for seven years in this world” via Monoculaire

Ai Weiwei’s work is currently showing at Haus der Kunst in Munich. The major solo exhibition titled “So Sorry” is authenticating the artist’s move towards increasingly political realm. Older works by Ai Weiwei will be shown at the German art house along with two newly commissioned ones. Chris Dercon, the curator of the show, and Ai Weiwei conceived of the large-scale collaboration almost three years ago.

One of the most important Chinese artists of 20th century, Ai Weiwei does not allow place for contextual involvement that surpasses his artistic intentions. This is not to say that any possibility of “third meaning” is denied, yet it is manipulated to an extent that the relationship between the work and the space of the museum becomes parallel to the dynamics of a dictatorial system. The history of Haus der Kunst –  the Third Reich’s first monumental propaganda building commissioned by Hitler to display German art – is put into the servitude of Ai Weiwei’s political message masterfully, thus symptomatic of accordingly the artist’s achievement and curatorial ideal- one where the curator achieves the illusion of absence.  Ai Weiwei’s show at Haus der Kunst runs through January 17, 2010.

Soft Ground and Rooted Upon, Ai Weiwei via Artdaily

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