Ai Weiwei: creation and destruction in contemporary China

• Grant number: 13/13718-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2013
• End date: August 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Art Fundamentals and Criticism
• Principal Investigator: Vera Maria Pallamin
• Grantee: Claudia Kim Kim
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project has as its object of study the collection of works by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei (1957 -), highlighting their relationships with the dialectic between creation / destruction that have been ongoing in the cultural framework of contemporary China. The artist has drawn attention to create fruitful investigations in the fields of architecture, landscape, culture and art in the context of Chinese and global projection, always confronting the social conditions of their country, Ai Weiwei shows various facets through his visual creation, fraught with contradictions and ambiguity. This research aims to analyze, so this multiplicity and artistic line of thought that connects all his work within the contemporary climate of China. The importance of this study lies precisely in the fact of his art to raise issues related to society, both Eastern and Western. Seeking to understand the intertwining of art and politics, aims to decipher the complexity of its production and its role as an artist in the scene in which he lives, allowing discussions from the work of this already affirms its importance in the field of contemporary art. (AU)