With Wind, 2014 handmade kites of paper, silk, & bamboo
When my brother and I were small my Father was constantly searching for interesting and cheap activites for us to do. We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, shuttled between Marin County and San Francisco, and it was my Father's task to entertain us during the weekends on a meager salary. Fortunately for me, and for my Brother, my Dad was clever, creative, cunning, and just enough of a rebel to not pay for much, and yet still manage to have tons of fun.
Some of my favorite adventures were riding the ferry on the SF Bay to the wilds of Angel Island, or to the barren, rusted steel and crumbling concrete ruins of Alcatraz. Admittedly, I've not been back to the latter since I was a kid.
After Father's passing late last year, it was especially poignant to make the return journey to Alcatraz, not only to remember our days together, but our mutual love of Modern Art.
Serendipidously, the occasion for my return presented itself this Fall with the opening of the Ai Weiwei exhibit On Alcatraz. I have been an admirer of Ai Weiwei's work for several years now and relished the thought of seeing a large scale installation of his in such a meaningful setting. The fact that this exhibit was so close to home was, well, totally mind blowing!
Here are the images I made from the trip...
arriving on Alcatraz
Stay Tuned, 2014 one of several sound installation pieces in cells
Stay Tuned, 2014
wall text
Yours Truly, 2014 wood postcard rack and post cards -viewers are encouraged to sit down and write something to a political prisoner, cards are pre-addressed. They collected them...
Yours Truly, 2014 September 29th- interactive exhibit
NEW INDUSTRIES BUILDING:
With Wind, 2014 overview
With Wind detail
With Wind detail
With Wind detail
With Wind overview
With Wind Edward Snowden quote
With Wind detail
With Wind smaller kites
With Wind detail of smaller kite
The first word that comes to mind in relation to this project is FREEDOM. As an artist, I live in a society where freedom is incredibly precious. We strive for it daily and put forth a great amount of effort, sometimes sacrificing everything to protect this value, to insist on freedom. Freedom for me is not a fixed condition but a constant struggle. I think it is very important for artists to focus on the freedom of expression, a value essential for any creative endeavor.
-Ai Weiwei
Trace, 2014 several panels- portraits made from legos
Golden Gate Bridge through dirty New Industries Building Window, Alcatraz
Trace detail of one of the panels
Trace Nelson Mandela
Trace Edward Snowden
Trace book of portraits- political prisoners, martyrs, activists- with a short description of each person
Trace book of portraits- detail of Lolo
Trace Lolo lego portrait
Trace overview
Trace Memetjan Abdulla portrait in legos
Trace Ngo Hao portrait in legos
Trace Woubshet Taye portrait in legos
Trace legos detail
The truth is always terrible, unfit for presentation, unspeakable, and difficult for the people to handle, just speaking the truth would be "subversion of the state."
-Ai Weiwei
Trace as seen from the *Gun Gallery* above
Refraction, 2014 steel sculpture- as seen from the Gun Gallery
Gun Gallery, Broken Windows and Rusted Steel, Alcatraz
Refraction, 2014
Seeing Refraction was an emtional experience for me. My first instinct was to be incredibly frustrated at not being able to get into the same room with the piece. I couldn't exerience it first hand. I couldn't document it well. I was trapped in the gun gallery, a narrow, confining hallway, behind a couple of feet of concrete and steel. After a while, trying photograph this sculpture through the window, I understood that I was forced to be outside of it. I was contained. And I realized the genius of this installation. It is so beautiful, but not free to be viewed. My freedom to fully see the piece, to be with it, was taken away.
Outside of New Industries Building with garden, looking North towards Marin
Transition from the Darkness, 2014 Alcatraz
I left the island determined to come back before Ai Weiwei's installation leaves in April 2015. I need to experience it again!.... being out on the Bay is an added bonus.
Ai Weiwei
@Large On Alcatraz
September 27, 2014 - April 26, 2015
All photograph are copyright Suzanne Dunn, The Glass Box
May not be used without permission.