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Ai Weiwei Has Designed Face Masks to Raise Funds for COVID-19 Relief

All images © Ai Weiwei A defiant middle finger, a heap of sunflower seeds, and various mythical creatures are all silk-screened in black ink on the blue cloth backdrops of nonsurgical masks. The artworks the most recent intervention by artist and activist Ai Weiwei (previously) to help raise money for organizations directly involved with combating the coronavirus pandemic. Inspired by a documentary he’s making about COVID-19, the artist decided to create an entire collection after printing his iconic middle finger onto one of the disposable cloths. “An individual wearing a mask makes a gesture; a society wearing masks combats a…

Art

26 Contemporary Chinese Artists Explore Materiality in 'Allure of Matter'

…on May 3. gu wenda, “united nations: american code” (2019), human and synthetic hair. Installation view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, image © Museum Associates/LACMA Ai Weiwei, “Tables at Right Angles” (1998), Tables from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Stockamp Tsai Collection, New York Liu Jianhua, “Black Flame” (2017), 8,000 flame-shaped black porcelain pieces. Collection of the artist, courtesy of Pace Gallery. Installation view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, image © Museum Associates/LACMA Gu Dexin, “Untitled” (1989), melted and adjoined plastic. Installation view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, image © Museum Associates/LACMA…

Colossal

Colossal Needs You!—Introducing Membership

…the plunge. You can choose from a monthly, annual, or lifetime membership that will give you immediate access to a bevy of new content and programs including our bi-weekly interview series (we’re launching with Ai Weiwei), a brand spanking new newsletter (details on what’s coming up!), a new artist grant available to members (get your money!), school supplies for classrooms (hook up the kids!), and a variety of special offers and perks from partners. To be clear: Colossal will never charge for daily articles or anything you’ve been accustomed to seeing over the last nine years. We believe that art…

Documentary

Ai Weiwei's Film 'Human Flow' Documents the Staggering Scale of the Global Refugee Crisis

To create his new documentary film Human Flow, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei spent a full year traveling through 23 countries, following the journeys of some of the 65 million people forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change, and protracted wars. Crossing oceans and visiting refugee camps in precarious border cities in Afghanistan, Greece, Iraq, Kenya, Mexico, Turkey and beyond, Ai documented the stories of fellow humans of all ages and nationalities who currently have no place to call home. The individual stories of several refugees and their journeys—or near perpetual state of limbo—are interwoven throughout the…

Art

A New Large-Scale Installation of Boats and Tangled Thread by Artist Chiharu Shiota

…experience every day, by their connections with the past and the future,” said Shiota in an interview with Le Bon Marché. “The creation of this indecipherable mesh and its plasticity are a mystery, just like our brain, the universe, and of course, life. I have no answers, only questions. These questions are the foundations of my work.” Last year Le Bon Marché organized a large exhibition of Ai WeiWei‘s work which featured a 65-foot bamboo and silk dragon in the store’s atrium. Shiota’s Where are we going? will be displayed at Le Bon Marché through February 18, 2017. (via Fubiz)…

Art

Ai Weiwei Wraps the Columns of Berlin’s Konzerthaus with 14,000 Salvaged Refugee Life Vests

Image via Markus Winninghoff Image via Oliver Lang / Konzerthaus Berlin Ai Weiwei has produced a five-column installation on the facade of Berlin’s Konzerthaus, a collection of 14,000 life vests from refugees who landed on the Greek Island of Lesbos after battling the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey. Ai hopes the bright orange installation draws attention to the hundreds of refugees that are trying to reach Europe each day, over 400 of whom have died attempting the same journey since the beginning of the year. Although thousands of the life jackets can now be seen in Berlin, this does not begin…