Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour

Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour

8.13
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Ratings: 8.13/10 from 46 users.

Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or FavourArts documentary, first broadcast before Ai Weiwei's arrest by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and his subsequent release after being detained for 11 weeks.

Architect, photographer, curator and blogger, Ai Weiwei is China's most famous and politically outspoken contemporary artist.

Alan Yentob explores the story of Ai Weiwei's life and art, and reveals how this most courageous and determined of artists continues to fight for artistic freedom of expression while living under the restrictive shadows of authoritarian rule.

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johnconnolly25
johnconnolly25
10 years ago

Pity he exists, a strawman created by China's elite.

Kdt7358
Kdt7358
11 years ago

What would have impressed me more would have been if he had flown all those people over from china who had made the seeds from his studio to experience the exhibition, Instead of middle class people. It kind of defeats the purpose of the work.

Wells Tao
Wells Tao
11 years ago

the way a sunflower moves to always face the sun, a symbol of the totality of China's cultural revolution, to produce it's seeds as symbolic super commodities for the west, is incredibly apt.

Asher Craig
Asher Craig
11 years ago

Our Perception of this is what is "Sick" the Artist is Spokes Person for the Community what he must tell them are secrets the secrets he must tell them are their Secrets

Steven Harris
Steven Harris
12 years ago

Also can't help but notice him using Apple products. Tisk, tisk.

Steven Harris
Steven Harris
12 years ago

So we're meant to believe that in any "socialist society" the only pleasure you can expect is in a pocket full of sunflower seeds? With all due respect to Ai Weiwei, as he's a magnificent artist, and certainly his family suffered greatly, he's confusing what he went through in China with something that China was decidedly not: the pinnacle and solitary example of socialism. He's lived in modern-day Germany, so he should know well enough that socialism does not always equal authoritarian state. Socialism is a broad term that covers many different methods of achieving a particular goal. The same can be said of Capitalism, which under certain interpretations, and at the hands of certain leaders, has achieved it's own substantial death toll. In fact, the China of today seems hard at work adding to said toll.

Winston Smith
Winston Smith
12 years ago

Very talented artist. Brave and what a cool name. Awesome! Thanks for this one.

Erick Ezekiel
Erick Ezekiel
12 years ago

a remarkable story about a remarkable man.
something that you can think about.

Sieben Stern
Sieben Stern
12 years ago

china should spend less time policing it's artists and more time policing it's products! 8X

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Nothing can stop ART, not even the artist. If one doesn't express it in a physical way, it continues to dance in one's mind while walking, eating, loving, while dreaming.
Art is like blood, it flows where it needs to flow.
az

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Utterly beautiful, Have they been sold yet ? I heard they were going to be sold by the sackfull. Makes me sad to think they will go that way, 100 million together is stunning. 100 million people with one seed each, sharing an understanding is even more so. A sackfull is pointless.

Imightberiding
Imightberiding
12 years ago

@TDF Thanks for another good one.

Johnny yi
Johnny yi
12 years ago

To Anthony Williams , I thought it was because of the ceramic dust that was created from the seeds breaking from people walking on it. Ceramic dust is really bad for the lungs as it clings to the pores of yours alveoli.

Aaylsworth
Aaylsworth
12 years ago

Interesting, looks like he doesn't actually make any of his stuff it's all conception, still good though.

Anthony Williams
Anthony Williams
12 years ago

Now I understand why they stopped people from walking on the sunflower seeds after their installation, I guess someone figured out the message of having thousands of western consumers walking all over the hand made Chinese ceramic was a little politically ignorant, lol, and you can also see why the fat emperor of Chinese art was equally miffed when they stopped it, since that was probably part of his "idea" for the work. Luckily for the the Chinese their industry isn't wholly at the disposal of Weiwei, lol and thus the widgets they usually churn out aren't as entirely useless as a sea of sunflower seeds.

panthera f
panthera f
12 years ago

A very ordinary, but special man. :-)

blahblahbob
blahblahbob
12 years ago

Ai Weiwei is such a nice breath of fresh air in an art world dominated by meaningless drabble produced by the damien hirsts and jeff koons of the world and bought and displayed by the eli broads of the world. finally it seems that art stands for something real again... thanks Ai!

S.E.T.H
S.E.T.H
12 years ago

A great piece of film and Art.