Why look into Ai WeiWei?
I wanted to try find more artists who do work with vases whether its a vase sculpture or a vase print. Not only I have managed to find someone who makes art with vases but I also managed to find someone who is actually Chinese. Ai WeiWei makes art works in connection with China and he exhibits his art works in western countries such as America, England and other western countries whereas exhibiting in China is strictly forbidden.
Ai WeiWei makes art works such as turning a 5000 BC vase into a contemporary art piece by dipping ancient pots into a bright ceramic glaze like yellow, blue, red etc. His message in this respects is pointed towards China not reserving China’s old cultural heritage and just keep carrying on building modernised places. This is his way of putting the message across when China continues to destroy cultural heritage and then he destroys a priceless vase but at the same time he makes it into an artwork.
How can he relate to my vase prints and vase readymade?
Well I would say that he clearly does relate in some aspects because his vases give a clear deep meaning behind the surfaces of his vases. The glaze that he uses, covers up the original 5000 BC design of the vase but then lays on the modernised ceramic glaze. This message points directly towards how China manages their ancient cultural heritage sites and sometimes use these sites to build modernised apartments or industries.
My Vase Readymade gives a deep meaning behind two old couples that have left their trace within the surfaces of my pair of two readymade vases. My vases hold a record on dust or dirt and maybe even bacteria carried by the old couple who once occupied their old apartment. My vase prints symbolize china culture and stencils have always been a big thing in China for people to make on, ‘its an art alone’.
I use their old cultural methods of stencil making into my own work but not only that, I use them to print through to make my nice prints. In my previous post you will clearly see my meaning behind my vases where you have the china connection and also the english connection in printing inks and methods.
Are there any signs of indexical traces within his process?
I would say there are most definitely alot of signs of indexical traces within his objects and processes of works. Ai WeiWei used a lot of old vases dating back as far as the (Han Dynasty, 3000-5000 BC). Now there are in no doubt thousands upon thousands of memory traces as well as indexical traces within the surfaces of these vases that he uses.
All these ancient vases that he uses, actually could hold a record of 5000 years and god knows how many things you might see within that time…. The interesting part about these works, is that he destroys the entire record of 5000 years to make a new contemporary style artwork in which he covers the vases in a ceramic glaze.
5000 years of memories are wiped clean, as if someone had wiped your memory away and replaces it with something brand new just like the bright colour ceramic glazes he uses. At the same time he uses his indexical action to distort a surface on an object when he uses the ceramic glaze and there becomes a distant memory trace as well as an indexical trace of himself.
