Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

The dreary weather gave me a chance to see a film I've wanted to catch for a long time: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist who has been pretty outspoken about the human rights abuses in China, one notable example being his work to uncover the shoddy school construction that led to many deaths from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.  He also worked on the famous Bird's Nest stadium for the Olympics (which he later boycotted) and installed an exhibit at the Tate using one hundred million hand-painted sunflower seeds (yes, thats One Hundred.  Million.)

Not surprisingly, he was detained by the Chinese government for three months on charges of 'tax evasion'.  I've depicted him in a couple of my works: both 'The Others' in the E Pluibus Unum show and as part of an installation highlighting imprisoned artists.

The trailer from YouTube:

It you're on the east coast, you can see his work in person at the Hirshorn.

Radio West recently interviewed the filmmmaker as well.

http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=ai-weiwei-according-to-what

http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/ai-weiweis-art-dissent

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/11/tate-modern-sunflower-seeds-review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_schools_corruption_scandal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dtfeh6a01c
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1845773/

How to Steal Ideas and be OK With It: Art Magazines

One of the aspects I enjoy most about being an artist is trying to steal ideas from others.  To quote T.S. Eliot:

"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different."

Here are some of the places, specifically periodicals, I've found really fruitful for ideas:

Juxtapoz
Available in both digital and meatspace forms, Juxtapoz presents a snapshot of contemporary (urban?) culture through art, most of it unsettlingly awesome.  The Nov '12 issue was dedicated to politics and included interviews with Shepard Fairey ('Obey' and 'Hope' motifs), an ad for "Bad Dads: an art show tribute to the films of Wes Anderson', and a Barbie doll in a blender.
http://www.juxtapoz.com/

High Fructose
HF is a quarterly mag that doesn't yet have a digital version, although many of the articles can be found on their website.  It is the slightly more cerebral but still edgy-contemporary big brother of Juxtapoz.  Looks sweet casually thrown on your stainless steel ottoman before that hipster wine and cheese party.
http://hifructose.com/

Sculpture
If you really want to buckle down and get your head into some art, Sculpture provides great interviews with mostly established (read: famous) artists.  I don't find the visuals as stunning as the two above but it makes up for it with a simple clean layout and world-wide coverage.
http://www.sculpture.org/documents/sm-arch.shtml

Iron & Air
This isn't an Art magazine but a publication with art: specifically, custom, garage-built motorcycles.  It's about dudes (and dudettes) who find a 1972 something-or-other behind grandpa's hay barn and turn it into a fire-breathing 140mph+ bit of steel and spinning rubber.  This is about craft, not plunking down a credit card at the Harley dealership.  If you don't have (or even like) motorcycles the photography is fantastic anyway.
http://ironandair.com/magazine/

MAKE
MAKE is what happens when all those kids who got beat up for winning the science fair in 5th grade get to publish their own magazine.  If you like Mythbusters, MacGyver, or have a holster on your belt for your multi-tool, MAKE is for you.  There's a lot of cross-pollination with Instructables as well.
http://makezine.com/
http://www.instructables.com/