随《NUVO》杂志走进 Ai Weiwei 北京工作室

Ai Weiwei 于近日出镜担纲 《NUVO》最新一期杂志封面人物，来自加拿大的 Lifestyle 刊物也直接对话 Ai Weiwei ，畅谈其创作生活中的现实与政治挑战，并深度剖析了 Ai Weiwei 即将于 Vancouver 双年展展出的艺术品，其中包括在 Harbour Green 公园展出的「F Grass」装置艺术、《Stay Home！》纪录片、以及名为《The Fake Case》的自传式电影；此外，在文章插图中，《NUVO》还带领读者一览 Ai Weiwei 位于北京的工作室，全方位呈现了这位激进艺术大师的真实生活。有兴趣的朋友可以浏览《NUVO》杂志官方网站在线阅读文章全部内容。

“On April 3, 2011, on the way to the airport to see a site before an exhibition, I was arrested and secretly taken to an unknown location.” Ai’s voice is measured, contemplative. “Then, after 81 days of secret detention and interrogation, scaring me by telling me how I could be sentenced for 10 years, suddenly I was just released without any prewarning. The same way I was arrested.” Upon his release, and on the pretext of ongoing additional litigation that has included charges ranging from tax evasion to adultery, Ai has not been permitted to obtain a passport or to travel abroad, and indeed only in recent months was he granted the right to move around the country with relative freedom.

Working at a remove of thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of kilometres has quickly become an intrinsic part of the artist’s practice. “I’m used to it,” he says. “We have a brilliant team, all very young people, creative, educated, and they extend the studio. You know they have the ability to make it happen.” Thanks to them, and to the outpouring of international support that’s come from every corner of the art world since Ai was first detained, the artist has managed to seem ubiquitous even in his confinement.

When reports of his arrest first hit the Internet, a popular meme sprang up on Twitter and elsewhere, even popping up on bus shelters in Berlin, demanding information about the artist’s whereabouts: “Where’s Weiwei?” The answer now is: Weiwei is everywhere.