S.A.C.R.E.D. - prison autobiography from Ai Weiwei

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 2011, the Chinese patriarch of contemporary art Ai Weiwei spent 81 days in prison on a trumped-up charge, and only the intercession of the world community forced the PRC authorities to release the artist. The story of my imprisonment he recently created in the form of six installations with the general name S. A. C. R. E. D.

Ai Weiwei has already played up his own imprisonment in his work. Last year, in the wake of the popularity of the song Gangnam Style, he shot a parody of this video, laughing at the handcuffs with which they were shackled and the use of force on himself.

Now, Weiwei decided to tell the full story of his imprisonment, describing prison life and realities in six installations, the hero of each of which was the artist himself and the jailers.

Each of the installations mentioned is a separate metal box, inside which the viewer can look. After all, there is painstakingly and accurately recreated the interiors of the cell in which Ai Weiwei was sitting, as well as other premises of the prison.

The viewer can see how the artist was forced to live for almost three months under the constant supervision of the jailers: he ate in their presence, slept and even went to the toilet, not being able to stay alone for a second.

In 2011, the Chinese authorities wanted to isolate the artist from society, shut his mouth and deprive him of the opportunity to promote his ideas. However, in the end, everything turned out exactly the opposite, from the outrage of the world community at his arrest and ending with a series of installations by S. A. C. R. E. D.

Acting with the methods of censorship and authoritarianism, the Chinese authorities in response received maximum publicity and openness, which they are not yet able to understand the causes and consequences of.

The work of S. A. C. R. E. D. by Ai Weiwei is currently on display at the Lisson Gallery in London.