0:00:30.334,0:00:32.334
- Sound work okay back there?

0:00:34.680,0:00:38.680
[ MAYOR BLOOMBERG ] It is a bittersweet honor[br]to welcome all of you here today

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to celebrate a remarkable[br]piece of public art

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by one of the world’s most[br]creative and courageous public citizens,

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Ai Weiwei.

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Ai Weiwei could not be with us here[br]for this unveiling of his latest work,

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"Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads."

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Even though he could not[br]be with us physically

0:01:00.880,0:01:04.320
he continues to speak to us,[br]to delight us,

0:01:04.320,0:01:06.329
to challenge us through his art.

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In its scale and accessibility,[br]"Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads"

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follows in New York City’s[br]proud tradition of

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presenting unforgettable public art[br]that everyone can enjoy.

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Ai Weiwei believes that art[br]should be for everyone

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and we couldn’t agree more.

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[ E-SHYH WONG ][br]We call him in

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Chinese... [ speaking Chinese ][br]which is Teacher Ai.

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And he is always very conscious[br]that if we’re learning about something new.

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For every project he wants[br]to make sure that there’s

0:02:01.080,0:02:06.400
learning involved and it’s not[br]just you know doing any menial task.

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[ INSERK YANG ][br]He gives a lot of freedom and…

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actually you know.

0:02:09.320,0:02:13.320
He’s not the kind of artist that[br]imposes his creative decisions

0:02:13.320,0:02:17.572
on his assistants and coworkers[br]to be executed you know.

0:02:18.226,0:02:21.640
[ E-SHYH WONG ][br]Well with any proposal we get,

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what’s very important to Weiwei

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is the space and[br]how he can use the space.

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He has a lot of craftsmen

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and a lot of people working with him.

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As he works directly with us,[br]he works directly with them.

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[ INSERK YANG ][br]The studio always used to be

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in a state of constant flux you know.

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Always many people coming,[br]especially in the last couple of years

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that we call volunteers[br]you know.

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They come for a certain[br]kind of interest,

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are mostly Chinese,[br]mostly young people.

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Often are not related to art[br]at all you know.

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And so we have housewives[br]really coming to our place and,

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and telling Weiwei that they think his,[br]his work has some kind of meaning

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and they would like to be part of it.

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And usually he just,[br]if he feels like that there’s

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enough passion to go this way,[br]then he accepts that you know.

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[ E-SHYH WONG ][br]Every day people are coming up to us

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and giving us proposals of something[br]they can do to help Weiwei.

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At first we thought, "Okay,[br]maybe we should stay quiet a bit,

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because we don’t want to[br]upset the Chinese government."

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But then we think,[br]"What would Weiwei do?"

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And he would probably make[br]the most noise of anybody.

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So I think we still,

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he’s still very careful[br]about what he does.

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He doesn’t just make[br]noise to make it.

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So I think we’re,[br]we’re thinking,

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we’re trying to think very clearly[br]about the right approach,

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but I don’t think we think[br]the right way is to be quiet.

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[ INSERK YANG ][br]That’s true, don’t be quiet.

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[ GREG HILTY ][br]It’s sad not to see him

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because he’s a very entertaining[br]and very charismatic figure.

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He's good to be around.

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It’s been very strange obviously[br]installing a show without the artist.

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You know normally[br]that’s a prerequisite

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and you really wait[br]for the artist to come.

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Obviously we have our own ideas[br]about how to use the gallery

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and what we want,[br]but there’s always things change.

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We decided to put the posters up[br]because normally an artist is here

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and had arranged interviews[br]and we would expect him

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to be able to speak.

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So we thought that actually getting[br]his voice out there was important.

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And we just chose a small selection[br]of very pertinent, timeless quotes.

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As is well known,[br]Ai Weiwei is the son of

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a very famous poet, Ai Qing.

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He grew up knowing that art was[br]both very powerful and very controversial.

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He kind of ran away from that[br]and ran away from China in the late ‘80s

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and went to New York.

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Had a period of, I guess,[br]reflection and absorbing things.

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He was making work[br]but he wasn’t really pursuing

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a strong career as an artist.

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And I think you know[br]those two influences

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when he finally[br]came back to China in the mid-90s,

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really set him up to take a stand[br]and enter the Chinese cultural world

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and art world with[br]a very strong voice.

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There are a couple of[br]works in the show

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that for me are very important[br]and, and very poignant.

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There’s security camera[br]which he’s made in marble

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and representing on a plinth.

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You know security cameras are[br]very prevalent for…

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in all of our lives there.

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They kind of are the background[br]to our lives and we take them for granted.

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For him it was very present,[br]it wasn’t just in the background,

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but he was you know[br]specifically under surveillance

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for a number of years.

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He in one way took that quite lightly.

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He was, he would chat to the security guards,[br]sort of plainclothes people who’d come

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and stand outside his house.

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And he’d sort of shake their hands[br]and you know he was quite relaxed

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when we said, isn’t this,[br]"Isn’t this disturbing?"

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But obviously it is disturbing and[br]what’s happened has been terrible.

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The other thing that’s interesting about that[br]is that while he’s made this kind of

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monument in marble of a security camera,

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he adopted another strategy[br]which was to put his life in

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as public a view as possible.

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When I went to see him in the studio he tweeted,

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you know, 20 times during [br]our first hour-long meeting.

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And I guess the principle is that[br]as long as everything is out in the open,

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there’s nothing to spy on.

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So he had nothing to hide actually.

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He works in many different ways,[br]but each one of those ways he uses

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in its own terms and as,[br]as simply and clearly

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and strongly as possible to give[br]testimony to the world he’s living in.

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[ indistinct conversation ]

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[ cat meows ]

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[ INTERVIEWER ][br]How did you decide to become an artist?

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[ AI WEIWEI ][br]Uh, how?

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The decision is not made very,

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I should say,[br]not very seriously.

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I mean this is a,[br]there’s not much choice there

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when I start to do art.

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You’re either non-artist,[br]which means you’re,

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can be a worker,[br]farmer, or soldier.

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Or you become somebody[br]who

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at that time I would call art-worker you know.

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So since I’m a bit familiar with art,[br]because of my father,

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so I just picked up this. And, uh, you know not very successful.

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You know I, I spent years.

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I called myself an artist,[br]but not really.

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I don’t have many works, or,[br]or nothing people would appreciate.

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Till very late, you know 2004,[br]I started to have shows.

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And...which surprised me also you know.

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You’re always someone,[br]you’re capable to be.

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Or you know when they say[br]you can make chandeliers,

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you are, you’re a chandelier maker.

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And it’s very convincing.

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I mean more convincing[br]than anything else.

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That’s why they call me[br]political activist, I guess.

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Actually I never really re-think about[br]my work you know, it’s already past.

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It’s a crooked coffin.

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I think yeah,

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you can use it as a table too,

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to take a nap or something.

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The media is the message,

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I mean in many cases which is true,

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not you know even in the classic sense.

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The...it, it carries the full [br]intention and the meaning.

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Once you change it, it is,[br]it’s very disturbing.

0:12:05.040,0:12:09.200
Yeah, those are really are useless objects.

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I’m very much interested in[br]this so-called useless object.

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I mean you…[br]it takes perfect craftsmanship,

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beautiful material and[br]carefully measured and crafted.

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But at the same time,[br]it’s really useless. I mean...

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You need something[br]people can realize is art you know,

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otherwise they think you are[br]too political or you’re too....

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You’re…[br]"What are you doing, it’s not art."

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Or, or "You'll never[br]get it," You know.

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So sometimes you have to say,

0:12:55.320,0:12:59.737
"Oh, I’m an artist." You know. "I can do this." You know.

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[ laughs ]

0:14:03.520,0:14:07.360
I think I’m interested in[br]these kind of activities,

0:14:07.360,0:14:08.690
so-called art is,

0:14:08.690,0:14:14.425
is only because that’s always[br]dealing with new possibilities.

0:14:29.920,0:14:35.719
The audio component with Harvard [br]backpack installation is the,

0:14:35.719,0:14:44.756
reading of the 5,000 names of the[br]dead students victimized by the earthquake.

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My carpenters always need job.

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They always say, "Well Weiwei,[br]what next we can do?"

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So I, I really have no ideas what,[br]you know I, I’m not a....

0:15:22.680,0:15:24.400
I don’t have so much ideas.

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I said that maybe we try this bowl.[br]And it was come from a plastic cat toy.

0:15:30.680,0:15:33.680
And they said, "This is very difficult."

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So I said, "Okay, that’s the purpose."

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So take them like a,[br]a year or so you know

0:15:39.520,0:15:44.240
to try to figure out how to[br]make this structure without nails.

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Gradually, it become a game for them.

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They really love it.

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Even this has no purpose,[br]but they accept it because it’s so difficult.

0:16:32.440,0:16:35.663
Yeah, I mean, surveillance has, [br]it’s a very clear meaning.

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It's to monitor, you know or secretly[br]--secretly monitor…

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monitor people’s behaving or....

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But once it’s become a marble,[br]it’s only being watched.

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It’s not functioning anymore, you know.

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[ siren blaring, traffic ]

0:17:55.265,0:17:58.662
[ Announcer ] To learn more about [br]"Art in the Twenty-First Century"

0:17:58.662,0:18:00.516
and it's educational resources,

0:18:00.784,0:18:05.273
please visit us online at: PBS.org/art21

0:18:08.824,0:18:12.580
"Art in the Twenty-First Century" [br]is available on DVD.

0:18:12.580,0:18:15.481
The companion book is also available,

0:18:15.481,0:18:19.329
to order, visit us online at: shopPBS.org

0:18:19.329,0:18:24.199
or call PBS Home Video at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.