Leading artist Ai Weiwei commented on AI, power, and his plans for a Manchester exhibition during a talk last night at Aviva Studios.
The artist, who is known for his work challenging authority and advocating for international human rights, talked in conversation with Creative Director Low Kee Hong as part of Factory International’s Artists in Times of Upheaval series on Wednesday 12 March.
Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai grew up in a labour camp after his father, poet Ai Qing, was exiled under Mao’s anti-rightist crackdown in 1958.
Informed by geopolitics and society, Ai’s artwork utilises a diverse range of media including sculpture, filmmaking, photography, ceramics, and virtual spaces like social media.
In 2015, Ai was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport for “economic crimes” but was released without charge after 81 days of imprisonment.
Ai said: “We are living with very fast-paced AI. It is very easy to structure information. To know something means you have to learn. The AI problem is, you can do the thing so easily, so the real problem is if you didn’t really make the effort, the answer has nothing to do with you.
“It gives you a perfect answer. I really think there is no such thing as a perfect answer. You can correct an answer, which I think is very dangerous.”
He added: “I thought this was an evening about art.”
Ai also told of his plans for an exhibition with Factory International, in Manchester, where he will present a group of works he would never put anywhere else.
An audience member asked what advice he would give to young artists.
Ai said: “You really have to live your life and not take any advice. At the moment you have to really be yourself, which is a rare moment for most people.
“You can just walk in the wrong direction. Liberty is about the chance to make a mistake. After you make a mistake you bear responsibility, you bear the cost, the consequences, and you will become someone different.”
When asked about healing, Ai said he believed in nature rather than having to buy a cure, such as paying for a gym membership.
He said: “Behind the windows they’re running, but at the airport, nobody takes the stairs.
“Move to the mountains, look at the view. Nature gave us so much and we don’t even pay attention.”
In a final question an audience member asked what we should say to people in power.
Ai simply said: “I just wish them well.”
Feature image: Ai Weiwei (credit Ai Weiwei Studio)
Join the discussion