June 28th, 2020
Ai Weiwei, Fuck Off, 2000
These visually powerful images speak for themselves in terms of how powerful bodies of power make decisions which impact our lives as citizens of a country, both past, present, and future.
As a Chinese contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei (b. 1957), has been openly critical of the Chinese Government’s stance on democracy, government corruption, and human rights. Fuck Off/ (same in Chinese), was a controversial contemporary art exhibition which ran alongside the Third Shanghai Biennale in 2000. The exhibition’s title translates as “Uncooperative Attitude” in Mandarin, but the more direct sentiment of the English Fuck Off was preferred. Uncooperative Attitude featured conceptual performance and protest art, which you see through these images.
In co-curating the exhibition, Feng Boyi stated that “We wanted to show the ‘fuck off’ style, not working for the government or in the style of western countries, but a third way.” Ai Weiwei commented similarly saying, “Those involved had clear ideas about the message they wanted to send to Chinese institutions and Western curators, institutions, and dealers. We had to say something as individual artists to the outside world, and what we said was ‘fuck off’.”
In 2011, Ai Weiwei was arrested at the Beijing Capital Airport on the 3rd of April for what was called as “economic crimes”. He was detained for 81 days without charge. After being allowed to leave China in 2015, Ai lived in Berlin, Germany, and since 2019 has been living in Cambridge, the United Kingdom, with his family, working and travelling internationally.
Images: From his Study of Perspective series, 1995-2003. Gelatin silver print.
Ai Weiwei giving the finger to the,
1 White House. Washington D.C.
2 Eiffel Tower. Paris
3 Mona Lisa painting. Le Louvre, France.
4 Tiananmen Square. China
5 San Marco. Venice
6 Hong Kong
7 Cover of exhibition catalogue. Publisher: Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai.
Image Source: MoMA
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