JUST AS THE VALUE, THE BELIEF, CAME CRASHING DOWN.

By: Shruti Sheth

Artist: Ai Weiwei

Title: Dropping a Han Dynasty urn

Year: 1995

Medium: Series of 3 silver gelatin silver photograph on paper

Gallery: Queensland Government’s Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane, Australia)

One of the most striking pieces I have seen, in ‘Dropping a Han Dynasty urn’ (1995) the
artist Ai Weiwei is presenting a perplexing comment. Upon looking at the series of three
photographs my first impression is that the piece incorporates a profound understanding of
the passage of time. This I see in the sense that the urn represents a past era, and it’s
breaking is shown in a series of pictures. The series presents a passing of time again and
makes a social comment on the fact that the urn is being broken. I was quite shocked when
I first saw the piece, the act of breaking an antique was confronting. But upon looking a
little deeper, I felt a sense that the artist was making a statement and showing the loss of
ancient culture or the degradation of its value.

Ai Weiwei’s work, ‘Dropping an Han Dynasty urn’, is a contemporary piece that presents an
unparalleled iconoclastic statement with political impact through an aesthetically
compelling composition (Jones, 2014). Upon initially examining the piece, the visual
elements of VALUE and TEXTURE are especially striking and allow one to travel deeper
into the understanding and importance of the subject matter. In presenting a series of three
images, Weiwei highlights the concept of movement presenting an interesting
juxtaposition of the aesthetical visual aspect alongside the conceptual understanding of
movement through time. These combine to further the political impact of the piece and
create the social comment Weiwei is intending to make. Finally, the subject matter of this
piece relates directly to its artistic impact in that it presents a uniquely iconoclastic event in
which the image is given greater meaning through value the viewer invests in it (Jones,
2014). These three aspects are explored in this critique in order to explore the formal and
conceptual qualities of Weiwei’s work.

The initial visual impression of Weiwei’s work particularly highlights the elements of value
and texture to strike the viewer. Predominantly a CLOSED-VALUE COMPOSITION, Weiwei
places the focus on the subject. This allows the viewer to accentuate the meaning they give
to the action portrayed in the images. The fact that Weiwei has created primarily a sharp
image, particularly allowed me to place emphasis on the places where the composition was
more OPEN-VALUED as is seen where the urn is dropped. To me this emphasised his
unique representation of time, which the movement shown by the open-values of the urn
was identifying. Furthermore, the backgrounds present largely HIGH-KEY VALUES, where
as the foreground is more composed of LOW-KEY VALUES. As a viewer this allows my eye
to be drawn to the foreground as the lighter tones surrounding the subject of Weiwei
present as effulgence, drawing my eye to the artist the action he is demonstrating. This
mentioned contrast of high and low key values, facilitates the CHIAROSCURO technique
that incorporates the distribution of lights and darks to develop the volume of Weiwei and
create SPACE between himself as the subject and the textured background. By creating
space between himself and the background, Weiwei is expertly accentuating the effect
created by the high and low key values mentioned earlier. This allows the viewers eye to be
constantly drawn to the urn and its movement across the series. Whilst to the audience the
first in the series of photographs uses TEXTURE to create somewhat of a GENRE IMAGE,
where the subject matter concerns everyday life, following through the series however this
genre image is transformed to an iconoclastic statement. Though perhaps the image
initially seems like a man of Asian heritage holding an object of ancient Asian culture, the
series contextualises this idea to develop more into one of a statement in which the value
of ancient culture is being attacked. This furthers the theme of time and it’s understanding
that is seen throughout the work.

Weiwei’s use of time as an underlying factor in his work is fundamental to his intention in
creating an iconoclastic statement through the dropping of the urn (Jones, 2014). The use
of the urn as a symbol of ancient culture is a representative of a past time. This subject
matter is juxtaposed with the modern brick background and the image of Weiwei himself,
who is dropping the urn. Such a juxtaposition, is emphasized in the formal elements
mentioned in the earlier paragraph and these work to create the iconoclastic image Weiwei
intends to portray. The destruction of this urn is a movement that is indicative of a
changing of times, and as such Weiwei is inviting the audience to understand the changing
of Chinese culture. This perception is the meaning that I derived upon studying his
intention in creating an iconoclastic statement and combining it with the impressions I
received whilst physically observing and studying his work. Whilst understanding his use of
artistic elements, it was noted that through the use of TENEBRISM, Weiwei places the
focus on his action of dropping the urn. Alongside this the monochrome scheme of the
images, being black and white, emphasise the fundamental concept of time explored in this
piece. The lack of colour immediately takes the viewer back to a ancient time period of
photography and this furthers the juxtaposition of times that Weiwei is relying on to frame
the attacking of cultural value he is presenting in his action in the series.

One of the concepts unique to Weiwei’s work, is that he firmly believes that his art ‘is
powerful only because someone thinks it’s powerful and invests value in the object’ (The
Economist, 2012). As is mentioned in the above paragraphs, the essence of Weiwei’s
intension is to capture an iconoclastic act (Jarry, 2012). By allowing the viewer to project
their own importance and value into the object he is seen destroying, the viewer is directed
to reach their own conclusion about the statement Weiwei is making (Jarry, 2012). As is
outlined in this paper, the value I attached with the urn is of time, and in his process of
breaking the urn Weiwei is metaphorically breaking the value of ancient times in his
traditional Chinese culture. This conclusion is reached as a combination of the research into
Weiwei’s work as well as my own personal feelings upon observing and understanding the
piece. In understanding the meaning and value of the urn the viewer is allowed to truly
understand Weiwei’s work, and by projecting their own value they reach a unique
conclusion that establishes a connection between them as the viewer and the artwork as a
subject matter. The breaking of the urn is a stark juxtaposition, where an object admired
for its elegance and refined lines, is smashed upon the ground and this is presented as a
work of art in itself. Similar to the boundaries that Duchamp bent in his pieces of ‘found’
art, Weiwei is showing the breaking of a piece of art to be art in itself. This contorted idea
allows viewers to seriously question what boundaries define what is and what is not
considered art. This entirely new idea is often developed after long observation of the piece
and allows the viewer to attempt to discern both the artist’s intention and their feeling to
understand the piece of art.

The several paragraphs discussed above, support the understanding of Weiwei’s work as
the capture of an iconoclastic act. The initial impressions and discerning of value and
texture, as important artistic elements are important in placing emphasis on the action
Weiwei is intending. Presenting a changing of times and a series of pictures as a time lapse
capture, Weiwei is creating this concept of passing time as one of the fundamental
underlying factors of his piece. The essence of Weiwei’s intentions of this iconoclastic
capture is to allow viewers to be confronted with a time of turmoil. The loss of ancient
culture in the creation of modern work is a perplexing notion plaguing the generation of art
centred on appropriation and the re-use of the old.

In approaching a similar subject matter, I would use the same medium of monochrome
photography in a series to portray the concepts of movement as the passing of time.
However, since the subject is the artist himself, I would use myself or an object that I
understand resonates most with my inner being. Again, as the urn is a piece of the artist’s
heritage, I would use an object such as a coconut or conch shell that are representative of
the ancient Vedic culture. There are a variety of other changes I would incorporate but
essentially the formal principles of the work would remain similar, as I have a high
appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of Weiwei’s piece.

Throughout this piece I have examined Weiwei’s work in both formal and conceptual
aspects, and within research I presented my own perceptions that developed after carefully
studying his work. Whilst primarily my own feelings identified at the beginning of this
paper, stressed the essential concept of time I understood that Weiwei was portraying; the
research I conducted allowed me to further appreciate the artist’s use of time that was
framed in an iconoclastic act. My feelings allowed the work to have a far more profound
impact, because as the artist himself quoted, it was the ‘value that was placed in the object’
by me (The Economist, 2012). This projected value and belief as to the meaning of the work
allowed me to develop a relationship with the artwork, and by researching the artist’s
intentions I was able to make connection with the artist; and as such the foundation of a
true appreciation was developed upon the essential understanding and feelings between
myself as the viewer, the artist Weiwei as the creator and the work of art itself as the
subject matter.

Cited Sources

The Economist. (2012). Artistic License: China’s most famous artist talks about his work and how it
confounded his jailers. Beijing: The Economist. Retrieved November 14, 2014 from
http://www.economist.com/node/21554178

Jarry, A. (2012). Devastating History. Switzerland: Art Asia Pacific. Retrieved November 14, 2014
from http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/78/DevastatingHistory

Jones, J. (2014). Who’s the vandal: Ai Weiwei or the man who smashed his Han urn? USA: The
Guardian. Retrieved November 14, 2014 from
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/feb/18/ai-weiwei-han-urn-
smash-miami-art