Few weeks ago, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I resolved to do something to stimulate my brain numb with too much alcohol from the eve. So I decided to do something really (not) innovative; I took my ass to the Berenice Abbott exhibition with the certainty that I wouldn’t be disappointed. And indeed, I spent one hour admiring the many photographs on display (over 120 pictures), my favorite ones being Jean Cocteau with a gun and Jean Cocteau’s hands.
Enthusiastic about what I just saw I undertook to stop by the Ai Weiwei exhibition. What a (half) mistake! I found it uninteresting except for the New York and Beijing photographs.
The next Monday morning, while enjoying a coffee break and debriefing about the weekend with a colleague, I started a debate about the Chinese artist.
-“I swear. It was boring.”
-“I cannot believe it. One of my friends told me that it’s one of THE best exhibitions at the moment.”
-“I don’t know. I kinda don’t understand the pointed finger stuff. The perspective? My ass. It is so cliché! But maybe I am too stupid.”
End of the discussion.
Two days ago, the same colleague burst in my office apparently willing to share something highly important: her opinion.
-“I went to the Ai Weiwei exhibition. Amazing! Seriously, how can you say that it’s not interesting?”
-“Well, I just don’t get it. It’s not because someone is a political activist that what this person does qualifies as Art.”
-“Really????? Now, I don’t get it. Did you at least read the captions?”
-“Yeah! And? A picture should be self-explanatory. If you need a caption to get the point, then it’s like a holiday picture that you serve to your bored but patient friends with lots of lousy excuses. ”
-“Well, I don’t share your point of view.”
-“Guess what? That’s democracy baby! “
So yes, as an artist, Ai Weiwei… it’s mouais…
Alda Mori
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