cover image Weiwei-isms

Weiwei-isms

Ai Weiwei, Edited by Larry Warsh. Princeton Univ., $12.95 (120p) ISBN 978-0-691-15766-5

Convincing people of the power of words is almost as difficult as convincing them of the power of art, but one man continuously manages to convince nations and peoples of both, despite his own homeland's firm stance against free expression. Imprisoned by the Chinese government, the irrepressible power of art emanates from creators like Weiwei even under social structures dedicated and dictated to stifling, censoring, and restraining such powers. Weiwei stands by his land, seeing both its potential for greatness and the destruction it inflicts while striving for the former. Here, Warsh has collected statements from Weiwei on topics ranging from technology to Twitter, freedom of speech to the power of action, and creativity to morality. Although loosely divided into chapters, the book and its brief but powerful quotations all reference back to humanity and the rights of all its members. Unfailingly pithy and refreshingly modest, the book reads quickly and conversationally. Inspirational through its simplicity and generating feelings of complicity, Weiwei succeeds in creating obsessed readers and his desire for obsessed citizens, in China and the world at large, cannot be far behind. (Jan.)