Designer’s composition of bicycles?! How is this possible??!
The famous Chinese artist AI Weiwei (Ai Weiwei) during his next solo exhibition at the Galleria Continua in one of the most picturesque and visited by tourists from all over the world in San Gimignano (Tuscany, Italy), gave the audience a unique composition of 760 bicycles.
The exhibition featured sculptures, installations, videos and photographs to help visitors learn more about the Chinese artist, who for a long time was unable to travel outside his native country for political reasons.
The bicycle is considered popular transport in China, and that’s why there are parking lots all over the place. Bank clerks, research institute engineers, supermarket maintenance staff – almost everyone prefers using bicycles to get to work in an environmentally friendly way.
Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957. Later his family moved to the city of Xinjiang, where he lived until the early 1980s. At the very beginning of 1981, Ai left for the United States, where he lived and worked for 12 years. The famous designer is currently creating art in his hometown, the atmosphere of which Maestro favors.
In collaboration with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog& de Meuron Architekten, Ai Weiwei designed a unique design for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Amphitheatre in London in 2012. The year before this momentous occasion, he was elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts.
In his famous installation titled Stacked, the artist uses Yong Jiu Pai bicycles (which means “forever”) as a representation of the lives of millions of Chinese citizens. Visitors were amazed with a composition that was several times taller than a human being.
Ai Weiwei is not only a famous artist in China and worldwide, but also a public figure. His interests cover a rather diverse field: visual art, curating young talent, architecture, and social criticism.
This unique art installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei truly captivates me. The use of bicycles as a designer composition to refocus the space seems incredibly innovative. I wonder how the artist was able to transform everyday objects into such a thought-provoking art piece? What inspired Ai Weiwei to choose bicycles as the main element for this installation?