An Artwork of Ai Weiwei - Essay Example

 An Artwork of Ai Weiwei Art is an authority of its own kind. Various artists seem to project what they think about the society through their artistic work. In some situations, the audience are not able to interpret the correct meaning of a given art, owing to the fact that artists often look into the environment with varied lens from the common one used by the society. The artistic works of Aiweiwei tends to challenge viewers because of the wrong impression that they give the art pieces. While the common notion about artistic interpretation tends to bend towards contextual meaning, Aiweiwei art pieces tend to address unique concerns of the society. I have observed that art pieces of Ai Weiwei seem to be confusing many viewers. Ai Weiwei artistic are challenging because the artist uses nearly every object to represent unique features. Evidently, a number of his work tends to leave the viewers grappling to identify the meaning. For example, in one of his art piece, he has used ordinary bicycle to produce a sterling art piece. Attempts towards interpreting the meaning of this piece often leaves the viewer thinking about the meaning of the ordinary piece of object used in artwork. As noted by a number of art critics, the use of ordinary objects to produce unique art pieces sometimes creates difficulty in interpretation (Laar and Diepeveen 94). Largely, placing the artwork in any context tends to be very difficult. I believe that this situation is evident with most art pieces of Ai Wewei. The common nagging question that people find difficult is what the art piece represents when the meaning of the ordinary object has changed. While the viewers often struggle to find the meaning of art pieces, many fail to think in terms of placing the artwork in a given context. Laar and Diepeveen have observed that some artwork that the audiences regard as difficult tends to incline towards certain cultures (112). Arguably, interpreting art pieces designed to address a concern in the western countries might not have the same meaning in the Asian countries. Thus, in interpreting artwork, the viewer needs to understand the culture of the people where the artwork has emanated from. For instance, Ai Weiwei art pieces often confuse many viewers because they seem to address aspects in the Asian culture as well as western cultures. Arguably, a mixture of cultural aspects from different backgrounds may be difficult to interpret. First, by putting the artwork in a different cultural background, the viewer shall have lost the real meaning. Secondly, failure to recognize the background of the artwork will also make the interpretation difficult. In my view, interpreting the art pieces of Ai Wewei requires understanding the context of his work. The difficulty in interpretation often arises when the situation that led to the creation of the artwork is unclear. In such cases, the viewer needs to know circumstances that surround the creation of the artwork. I think, the vagueness in the presentation is the failure of the viewer to identity the situations or circumstances that artists want to display. For example, artistic works which address political issues may confuse a viewer who does not place the work in the right political situation. I have realized that Ai Weiwei’s work which addresses the sorry state of the society tends to create controversy in interpretation. For example, Ai Weiwei’s painting, “Ai Weiwei is missing in Taipei” illustrates stools clamped together. The painting may be disturbing to interpret because it tends to project varied meaning. While in Ai’s view the painting illustrates his absence during the Taipei event, a viewer who does not have the right information might not think in that line. At the end of the day, the interpretation of the artwork will be out of meaning. While the interpretation might not suit the intention of the artist, the viewers meaning might at times be compatible with the thoughts of the artist. In this sense, a given art piece designed to address a given issue may suit in another if the viewer interprets it in terms of his or her own thoughts. Additionally, circumstances surrounding the viewer’s situation might not be similar to those that triggered the creation of the art piece. Similarly, the controversy surrounding the interpretation of Ai’s artwork is the confusion between the viewer’s circumstances and Ai’s situation. I have learned that when viewers fail to think about the meaning of a given art work, they would argue that the artwork is difficult to interpret. Usually, when the viewer has several alternatives about the art piece, interpreting the meaning of such work does not only become easy, but also nearly accurate. In most cases, graphics designed to promote a product often lead the viewers towards thinking in a given direction (Laar and Diepeveen 113). In contrast to Ai’s work, he does not create a work that would allow the viewer to develop an informed opinion about the artist. Instead, it leaves the viewers thinking of circumstances that might have propagated the creation of such pieces. In my view, the art pieces that people tend regard as difficult to interpret are not as difficult as people perceive. However, the approach that an individual applies in handling the interpretation would define the difficulty in interpretation. For instance, interpreting Ai’s artwork dictates that a person must understand the circumstances surrounding the situation of the artist. Other than the situations, artistic interpretation borders on the ability of the viewer to place the artistic work in the right context. This approach does not only make the interpretation easy, but also in likeliness with the artist. In conclusion, Ai Weiwei art pieces tend to apply ordinary concepts in the society to address a complex issue. A bid to interpret such works is often difficult because the viewers are unable to distinguish the intent of the artist or place the art piece in the right context. As contented by most artists, art is intended to project a given view into the society. As such, interpretation of the art piece becomes difficult because the audience tends to consider situations that do not relate to the piece of art. Works Cited Laar, Van, and Diepeveen Leonard. Art with a Difference: Looking at Difficult and Unfamiliar. New York: Mayfield Pub., 2001. Print. Read More