Artist field note

Ai Weiwei

Art as evidence, provocation and public argument.

Image not yet recovered

02 / 05

Study of Perspective - Tiananmen

1995

A raised middle finger interrupts the postcard authority of Tiananmen Square. One small gesture turns a national monument into something contestable.

The five in one idea

Ai makes objects do civic work: they ask who controls history, information and the right to speak.