Let's get it on the table right now: Ai WeiWei is the shit. And his recent installation at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum is just a fan to his stunning fire. With 1200 bikes from Shanghai Forever Co., Ai has created a staggering work of geometric genius that hypnotically speaks to Chinese two-wheeled culture and the idea of cycle design as an art form. What I'm wondering is what he's going to do with the 1200 bikes after the installation comes down. Considering Ai's track record of social criticism (and his mysterious arrest), something tells me he's got a trick up his devil-may-care sleeve. Maybe lock the 1200 bikes together along the Great Wall? Or maybe a critical mass of the poor through Tiananmen Square? Or maybe just melt down all the steel and make a giant two-wheeled tank that shoots balloons and Chinese currency? Seriously, who the hell knows. And that's the best part.
[Aether]