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Analysis Of Ai Weiwei's Dropping A Han Dynasty Urn

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Ai Weiwei’s 1995 piece, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, is a revolutionary documentation of difficult art that also challenges normal beliefs of what art is. Weiwei is seen dropping a priceless urn. On the exterior, this simply looks like a man with too much free time dropping a priceless artifact, however, this may challenge the audience to think as to why someone would cause such destruction. Weiwei is disturbing the audience in their own perception of art. One might believe it can’t be art if it is just the chronicling of destruction. However, Weiwei is unsettling the audience and eliciting a negative response for the destruction of a material object. The urn is more valuable than other common household item like a lamp or a picture frame …show more content…

The piece also challenges the conditions of art. The biggest challenge is that the art is largely the action of destruction. These pictures were not meant to be hung, but rather the pictures serve as a gateway to the ideas and reactions of Weiwei’s performance. Even the name is not an art cliche; it is simply an informal statement of Weiwei’s actions. In relation to today, the piece might still elicit a similar response. Famous YouTube channels receive many views for the similar destruction of expensive items. Although the YouTubers might not be destroying priceless artifacts, they are still reaching for a shock response from the audience. Perhaps if done today, Weiwei might have posted a video rather than a collection of images. Although an iPhone is less valuable than ancient artifacts, many people are able to consistently destroy valuable objects. Weiwei’s piece being widely known contrasted to the millions of views for the destruction of expensive technology posted on many YouTube channels led me to reflect on why we are consistently interested in the destruction of expensive or priceless items. Perhaps our collective interest rises from the difficulty of obtaining these items, or maybe this interest peaks because we do not actually require

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