55th Biennale of Venice GERMAN PAVILLION Ai Weiwei

Sit Down! Please

Ai Weiwei, bang, 2010-2013, 886 antique stools, installation view, 2013

in China, every family typically has at least one stool which serves a range of purposes and that is passed down through each generation.
each one of the wooden three-legged structures having been manufactured in a uniform and used across all sectors of society for centuries.
however, following the cultural revolution, the production of the simple objects dropped and metal and plastic became standard materials
for furniture construction. A problem that effeced us globally as the

"chinese stuff" made of low quality, disposable material are invading the world.

For this installation Ai Weiwei's work 'bang' employs 886-three legged wooden stools made by traditional craftsmen

whose expertise is now something that is rare to find, and has installed an expansive rhizomatic structure which speaks of the increasing volumes
of organisms in our world's megacities. the single stool can be interpreted as a metaphor for the individual, and its relation to an overarching
and excessive system in a postmodern world which is developing faster than it can keep up with.

A chinese way to express l'Arte Povera, an accuse to modern consumism.