Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Manchester Metropolitan University
A Willow for AiWeiwei
This practice-based project examined concepts of ‘the obsolete’, upcycling and downcycling, inherent in mass produced printed ceramic tablewares. The research also investigated the potential for cultural re-valuation through artistic re-animation and re-contextualization of discarded artefacts.
Antique, damaged, crazed or cracked printed tablewares were acquired from junk shops/eBay. Although their fractures traditionally confer a diminution of value, they evidence former use (inferring embedded narratives), as well as involving material uncertainty in re-firing. Aesthetic value was added through re-working, and re-conceptualisation. Material engagement involved physical enhancements to the wares, making erasures as well as the addition of printed transfers and precious metals.
The series A Willow For Ai Weiwei involved re-working mid nineteenth century, cracked and crazed Willow Pattern platters (representing an archetypal western view of Chinese landscape) to examine contemporary events. All human figures in the original pattern were erased, alluding to the ‘disappeared’ artist and friends. Where Weiwei might have been, a white silhouette stands in the centre of the bridge dropping a Han dynasty urn (reference to one of his earlier artworks). Sunflower seeds are scattered around the platter alluding to the Tate Modern installation in 2010/11.
Pieces from the Ai Wei Wei series have been exhibited in Australia, Denmark, Norway, UK and USA. The research was further contextualized and disseminated in the illustrated essay ‘Willows, Windmills, and Wild Roses’ in Thing Tang Trash (Ed. Jorunn Veiteberg), Bergen National Academy of the Arts, 2011.
The investigation demonstrated that cultural values, up and downcycling, are seamlessly linked to materiality, image manipulation, subject matter, artistic intent and context. The research concluded that ‘new’ re-worked artefacts enable viewers to examine contemporary issues whilst also encouraging the re-appraisal of a familiar genre of objects, iconography and patterns.
