Ai Weiwei Weaves Views On Free Speech, Refugee Crisis Into Three New Art Prints
Earlier this year, Ai Weiwei collaborated with online art platform Avant Arte on Middle Finger—a project that allowed users to take the famed artist’s middle finger to any landmark on Google Maps’ street view in order to “share their own perspective on power.”
Now, the duo is launching a series of three art prints, each created using innovative printing techniques to represent the activist’s stance on issues such as freedom of speech and migration. These prints will go on sale on May 11, 2023.
The first design, Middle Finger in Black, continues from Ai’s previous project, which is based on the Study of Perspective series that first started in 1995. This time, silkscreen printed motifs of middle fingers finished in white gold leaf are laid against a black backdrop.
Secondly, Free Speech features a redesigned version of the famed Twitter bird on a vibrantly-colored grid of barbed wire. Encompassing the friction between free expression and censorship, the work was inspired by papercut artworks made by the artist’s father in the past.
Last but not least, Human Flow is set against an eye-catching yellow background, in which figures in motion, laden with bags, move in an endless circle while surrounded by surveillance cameras. This piece points to the importance of refugees’ freedom to be on the move.
“If there is one refugee, we are all refugees. It’s not that you’re potentially a refugee, or potentially involved. We are involved. We are refugees. This idea is not easy to establish, so I tried to make it beautiful,” explained Ai.
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Only 100 editions of Middle Finger in Black, Free Speech, and Human Flow will be available, retailing at US$1,022, US$1,363, and US$1,419, respectively. All prints will be mounted in an unglazed wooden tray frame, painted white with a visible grain.
[via Hypebeast and Avant Arte, images via Avant Arte]
