For
his first solo exhibition with Lisson New York, Ai Weiwei populates the gallery
with felled, cast-iron tree trunks, nearly sixteen feet in length, and a series
of iron root sculptures set against the backdrop of a new wallpaper
installation. Situated among the beams of the High Line exposed entirely in
this exhibition for the first time, the seven sculptures on display combine to
create a forest of displaced objects and reveal the artist’s interest in
tradition and contemporaneity as well as the
prevalence of displacement in post-modern societies.
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Natural
objects – from the sunflower seeds that carpeted Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in
2010 to his series of porcelain rocks and watermelons – have been an ongoing
source of inspiration for Ai Weiwei, with trees recurring as a spiritual motif
in his work since 2009. These monumental wooden or iron multipartite sculptures
are all composites of different parts of different trees gathered by the artist
from various parts of China in reference to the ancient Asian tradition of
collecting dry fragments of trees for contemplation of their complex forms.
Fragments
also play an important part in Ai Weiwei’s work as they force attention on
foundational elements and the most basic units that combine to create a whole.
Here, in line with the artist’s worldview, the whole is not greater than the
sum of its parts but rather each individual part is equal and of unique
importance. This focus on equality is evidenced in recent projects by the
artist that take as their starting point the refugee crisis and challenges to
freedom of speech.
The
iron roots and tree trunks shown in New York are presented in a natural,
untreated state, appearing at first glance as organic forms, yet upon closer
inspection, reveal their artificiality. Not born of nature but made by human
hands, the works, themselves contorted by the surrounding landscape, represent
a society uprooted by industrialisation and modernisation, illustrating how
progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being. By
eliminating their original function and value, Ai Weiwei imbues the objects
with new meaning and forces us to confront them in a new light.
