Artist Ai Weiwei Ai was secretly detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011 on charges of tax evasion, and was still not permitted to leave China.
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Gps Coordinates / 37.8271709,-122.4244117
Alcatraz Industries Building 2015 VR Art Exhibition
Clothing Store, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA
As a result, the artist was unable to visit Alcatraz during the planning of this exhibition, he developed the artwork at his studio in Beijing, with the help of the FOR-SITE Foundation.
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Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz is presented by the FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
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Revealing unexpected perspectives on Alcatraz and its layered legacy, prompts visitors to consider the implications of incarceration and the possibilities of art as an act of conscience.
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“The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”
— Ai Weiwei
Due to this being an artshow you'll notice the installation of hanging lights above that were installed for the show making the lighting within this large area of Alcatraz topnotch which would usually be filled with casted shadows throughout a large area such as this, you can always find a silver lining while in prison i suppose.
The prison lighting is exceptional good due it currently being an art show.
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A vocal critic of the Chinese government, Ai was secretly detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011 on charges of tax evasion, and is still not permitted to leave China.
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The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is internationally renowned for work that defies the distinction between art and activism.
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Blurs the lines between art and activism and explores freedom of expression and human rights in one of the world’s most famous prisons.
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Presented by the FOR-SITE Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei brought his works to Alcatraz Island until spring of 2015.
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Ai is internationally celebrated for his extraordinary ability to communicate complex political and creative concepts in his sculptures and installations.
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Revealing new perspectives on Alcatraz, the exhibition raised questions about freedom of expression and human rights that resonated far beyond this particular place.
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Ai Weiwei thousands of miles away, there were designers, sound engineers, historic architects, biologists, engineers, writers, park rangers, lighting specialists, internet providers, interns and volunteers.
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His works raise urgent questions about human rights and the freedom of expression.
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Ai’s sculpture, sound, and mixed-media installations occupied four locations in the former prison
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His art and ideas find a compelling new context in this exhibition of works created specifically for Alcatraz
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The New Industries Building, a group of cells in A Block, the Hospital, and the Dining Hall.
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Other kites that form part of this display each representing a different oppressive regime.
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Created by a group of Chinese artisans, and are being displayed in the prison's New Industries Building, a workshop area once reserved for privileged prisoners.
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They speak to themes of distributed labour, tradition, our interconnectedness, as well as the possibility of liberation.
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With this project, he aimed to expand our understanding of “the purpose of art, which is the fight for freedom.”
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For Ai, these are not just artist themes; they are fact of life.
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Conflict and struggle have only galvanized the artist’s commitment to art as an act of conscience.
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DRAGON
Ai Weiwei, With Wind, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz) -
With Wind This huge Chinese dragon kite bears a quote from Edward Snowden - '...privacy is a function of liberty' – and has Twitter logos for eyes.
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In artworks that balanced political impact with aesthetic grace, the exhibition directly and imaginatively addressed the situation of people around the world who have been deprived of their freedom for speaking out about their beliefs, people like Ai himself.
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REFRACTION
Ai Weiwei, Refraction, 2014 installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz
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B1 area of Industries building has a large metal sculpture named refraction
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Refraction This huge metal model of a bird's wing can only be viewed from the New Industries Building's Lower Gun Gallery, where armed guards once surveyed prisoners at work.
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The five-ton sculpture is constructed in part from the discarded reflective panels once used in Tibetan solar cookers.
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Like the disputed region, it doesn't look as if Refraction is going to be free any time soon.
Ai embraced the ironies of creating site-specific art for a place he couldn’t see, and of celebrating free expression while working under severe constraints.
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With the exception of the Dining Hall, these areas were usually restricted to the public, but all were open throughout the run of the exhibition.
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A 19th-century military fortress, a notorious federal penitentiary, a site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America's most visited national parks.
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Check out the artists website below to find out more about this artist
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https://art21.org/artist/ai-weiwei/
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