Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Ai Weiwei might be the most famous living artist today. Surely he’s a controversial figure, at least from the eyes of China and while he produces work from museum exhibitions around the world, he’s continuously persecuted. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry captures the history of Ai Weiwei, from his days in New York City, to his rise as a media and art star. The film captures both sides of him. His work, which also melds into his Tweeting and documenting his own persecution. Director Alison Klayman captures numerous great moments, from the opening shots of Ai Weiwei’s cats to his detention and release.
GR: It’s obvious Ai Weiwei wants to be on camera. I’m sure many wanted to make a documentary. I’m wondering how did you get to the top of the list?
AK: Well, I really lucked out because I was already living in China for a couple of years so by the time that I first met him I was based in Beijing, I was able to speak and work in Mandarin. And my roommate was curating an exhibition of his photographs for a local gallery. She asked if I wanted to make a video for the exhibition so that was how I met him. I was sort of handed not only the introduction, but sort of the responsibility of filming him and so there was never any kind of approach, really. It was essentially something that I came to very organically and I luckily I pursued it and he let me be around. And he liked the video I made for the exhibition so things kind of progressed from there.
GR: There have been other documentaries of some sort. Were those done concurrently while you began filming. I think you started filming 4 years ago?
AK: Yeah, I started filming at the end of 2008. There was a BBC Imagine, sort of an hour long piece that was really about him but it was about his Tate Modern exhibition. They sort of came around the end of summer of 2010 and was on air by November. They kind of came through. There was also a half hour show. There was also something done for German art television. But again, I think the nature of my project was so different from something like that. They’re all good, there’s a lot of movies that can be made about Ai Weiwei but I think mine is — my sort of thought as really a longitudinal project. I just wanted to be around to see what happened, I didn’t have an outline when I began and I really wanted to get it as personal as I could to really see what he’s like.
Seiichi Hayashi from Japan, Charles Glaubitz from Mexico, Jason from Norway–every time I attend Comic-Con I encounter at least one international artist with jaw-dropping, original talent who seems to redefine what comics can be. This year it was Brecht Evens from Belgium. His translated, painterly graphic novels, The Wrong Place (2010) and The Making Of (2012) are gorgeous slices of life that convey the power, drama, and luminosity of life without tights or capes. Or outlines or word balloons, for that matter.
Brecht’s storytelling ranges from stream-of-consciousness to dreamy and his panels swing from hyper detailed to quite sparing. But his gorgeous, voyeuristic pages always have a natural pace, truthful tone, and resonating message about the art of being human.
After meeting Brecht at the Drawn & Quarterly table, attending his panel with no visuals but plenty of interest, and then having dinner with the same crew as him at Comic-Con, I followed up with some questions about his work via email.
MW: It was a pleasure to meet you in San Diego, and I hope you enjoyed your visit. What were some observations that you took away from your first Comic-Con ?
BE: Thank you, and thanks for showing my comic book to the actress who played the scientist who tells the President the world is going to end, in The Day After Tomorrow!
There were a lot of nice people to meet at Comic-Con, but as a place, including the area around the convention center, it felt like walking around in a shopping mall for a week. Very peculiar.
Last night I attended the opening of (de)Constructing Chinatown, the Chinese American Museum‘s newest exhibit. The group art show was envisioned by curator Steven Wong as a creative way to reflect the diverse peoples and perspectives that create L.A.’s Chinatown. I didn’t get to say hi to all of the artists (or even Steve, who was in New York) but I did get to catch up with my old friend Shizu Saldamando (above). Her impossibly fine–and effortlessly cool–pen-on-bedsheet works are featured prominently, right next to the show’s main signage and statement.
