Description
The first book to dive exclusively into Ai Weiwei's approach to design and collecting, shedding light on the value we ascribe to everyday objects.
Artist, film-maker, architect, activist, collector - whatever mode Ai Weiwei is in, he is trying to tell us something about the state of the world. This book presents Ai's work as a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. Confronted by the rapid pace of change in his country, Ai became fascinated by Chinese antiquities.
His vast collections of historical artefacts, from Stone Age tools to broken teapot spouts, attest to the way the language of objects speaks across the ages. Is this a classic tale of technical progress, or have we lost crucial qualities with the march of time? Ai invites us to make sense of these objects as he explores the tensions between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction.
One of the few books to examine Ai Weiwei's approach to design, architecture and the city.
About the Author
Justin McGuirk is chief curator at the Design Museum and the director of Future Observatory.
Contributors:
Brian Dillon, Rachel Hajek, Julia Lovell, Tim Marlow, Justin McGuirk, Wang Shu, Eyal Weizman
Book Information
ISBN 9781872005638
Author Justin McGuirk
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Design Museum
Publisher Design Museum
Weight(grams) 1000g
Artist, film-maker, architect, activist, collector - whatever mode Ai Weiwei is in, he is trying to tell us something about the state of the world. This book presents Ai's work as a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. Confronted by the rapid pace of change in his country, Ai became fascinated by Chinese antiquities.
His vast collections of historical artefacts, from Stone Age tools to broken teapot spouts, attest to the way the language of objects speaks across the ages. Is this a classic tale of technical progress, or have we lost crucial qualities with the march of time? Ai invites us to make sense of these objects as he explores the tensions between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction.
One of the few books to examine Ai Weiwei's approach to design, architecture and the city.
About the Author
Justin McGuirk is chief curator at the Design Museum and the director of Future Observatory.
Contributors:
Brian Dillon, Rachel Hajek, Julia Lovell, Tim Marlow, Justin McGuirk, Wang Shu, Eyal Weizman
Book Information
ISBN 9781872005638
Author Justin McGuirk
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Design Museum
Publisher Design Museum
Weight(grams) 1000g
