Saturday, November 14, 2009

Kindred spirit



29 comments:

Brook said...

I like this. Seriously.

Erin O'Brien said...

I love the photo. He is an amazing multi-media artist as well.

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

Kindred spirit in which sense?

The naked-except-for-an-adult-diaper-in-an-otherwise-empty-warehouse sense?

Yer see - I knew I was hanging out in all the wrong neighbourhoods and missing all the action! :)

Erin O'Brien said...

I think it's a stuffed animal.

Check his link. He's very cool--designed the Beijing "Bird's Nest" then boycotted the Olympics.

He defies boundaries. I relate deeply to that.

Hiding Myself From Me said...

Gotta love it ...

LimesNow said...

So committed to self-expression he posts nude photos of himself with only a stuffed grass mud horse covering his wee wee . . . I'm for Ai Weiwei, Erin.

Word verification: undewecre ~ what Ai Weiwei isn't wearing.

B.E. Earl said...

I love that first picture on his profile.

(S)wine said...

"Artist Ai Oy Vey"

henry said...

he defies boundries but does like attention. actually i'm not sure that it's that difficult to defy boundries but when your intelligent, like him and erin, it's very entertaining for the rest of us.

Amy L. Hanna said...

Like Cosmic, I too thought that looked like a diaper until I clicked on the link.

Jack Cluth said...

Oh, man...I could have gone my entire life without seeing that and died a very happy man. Eww.... ;-)

HeyJoe said...

wtf?

Sumo wrestler after the stomach staple?

Kirk Jusko said...

You said he's a artist. Is that picture an example of his art, or is that just a sideline and he's primarily a painter, sculpter, etc. I know it sounds like I'm making a joke, but I'm really curious.

Erin O'Brien said...

Maybe he took the pic for the same reasons I took this one.

Weiwei is a what I'd call cultural expressionist. I dig that.

LimesNow said...

I'd submit that, while your picture is lovely, Erin . . Weiwei's is not pretty, but it is beautiful.

Erin O'Brien said...

The more I look at the Weiwei photo, the more I like it.

LimesNow said...

He loves what he does. There's nothing better to take in than a passionate person expressing her/himself. He has purpose and is driven to tell people about it.

Kirk Jusko said...
This post has been removed by the author.
Once Known as The Badger said...

um... why don't we all do this and post it to a large virtual wall? It would defy gravity in so many ways!

btw, my "word" is crostedu, pronouced crosty dew, a kind of brittle, crunchy dew found in the drier climes of the world, like out here in the Mojave.

dean said...

He appears to be levitating by fucking a large lump of bread dough.

Now that's talent.

Anonymous said...

I like Ai but I like deans interpretation better. lmao.


RJ

rappe - levitating by,,,,well you know.

Brook said...

I just clicked through the link and love that photo too. I have stood in nearly that same spot and the misery and blood crying out from the stones beneath your feet lead to just such a visceral response. His bravery in defying convention even in this "freer" age in China's history is to be respected, says the lady who 10 years ago watched a man being paraded through the city, loud speakers blaring his crime and commanding The Peoples attendance, in the early morning hours on his way to being publicly executed at the local sports stadium. As a foreigner I was of course exempt from the spectacle and lesson in fear and subjugation being pounded into the population.
Ummm, whoops. Should have posted on my own blog but...whatever!

Al Penwasser said...

But...is it art?

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

Al Penwasser wrote: "But... is it art?"

Al, like beauty, all art is purely subjective and in the eye of the beholder. We make of it what we will.

Erin O'Brien said...

A pic like this says something about the "naked truth" without the cliche. It also says something about identity in a world wherein so many hide behind a mask of anonymity.

Hence, I look at it more as commentary than art.

Anonymous said...

But isn't commentary art?

RJ

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

RJ wrote: "But isn't commentary art?"

Not unless you're hugely pretentious :D

I can see occasions where commentary might be art, and vice versa, e.g. in the use of satire and a number of forms of illustration, but to think that all commentary is, by default, 'art' would be to dilute both art and commentary by raising them both on a dais which, many times, they frankly do not deserve.

Dan said...

Boy. Glad I read the link and got some context for the picture.

At first when I opened the email, I was thinking, "What? Does Ms. O'Brien take submissions? Or is it "by request only"?

Just teasing you, Erin.

Is it Art? Or Commentary? Isn't art always commentary?

Thanks for a deep question to ponder during rush hour. NPR is getting a little dry these days, so I was needing the something for the grey cells to work on.

lucy beckett 1935 said...

I found this man's story to be completely engrossing. I kept expecting the next paragraph to say he had killed himself and what a relief it was that he endures! Such courage. I loved the picture...leaping with arms and legs outstretched and covering his genitals with that symbolic horse. A kindred spirit for me, as well. I'd love to be a participant in the "fuck you" project. Would you please look into that for us, Erin?