Christopher - Ai-wei-wei

The artist I choose was Ai-wei-wei.  I stumbled across an image on the
internet one day about an artist that was arrested and all I remembered
was an overweight asian man almost naked jumping in the air.  When you
told us to pick an artist, I just searched up controversial asian artist
and Ai-wei-wei poped up.  I was actually interested in his works because I
found out he was Chinese, and I have never really been exposed to many
asian artists at all.  What I found out was about how he is openly
critical about the Chinese government.  Through my VIS classes, I have
began to admire people who stand up for their beliefs, even more so if it
is controversial, and show it through expression, whatever that expression
might be.  One of his works that drew me in is "Sunflower Seeds" as it
shows me just how powerful such a simple idea can be.  It was was one
hundred million hand painted little porcelain beads, but the message
behind it of about mass consumption, chinese industry, and famine just
made so much sense.  It really inspires me to use art to show my
underlying messages as well.