- published: 02 Jan 2011
- views: 398658
Ai Weiwei (born 18 May 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics. As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-skin schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing airport on 3 April, he was held for over two months without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes" (tax evasion). In October 2011 ArtReview magazine named Ai number one in their annual Power 100 list. The decision was criticised by the Chinese authorities. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin responded, "China has many artists who have sufficient ability. We feel that a selection that is based purely on a political bias and perspective has violated the objectives of the magazine".
Deep in the back of my mind is an unrealized sound
Every feeling I get from the street says it soon could be found
When I hear the cold lies of the pusher, I know it exists
It's confirmed in the eyes of the kids, emphasized with their fists
But the high has to rise from the low
Like volcanoes explode through the snow
The mosquito's sting brings a dream
But the poison's derange
The music must change
For we're chewing a bone
We soared like the sparrow hawk flied
Then we dropped like a stone
Like the tide and the waves
Growing slowly in range
Crushing mountains as old as the Earth
So the music must change
Sometimes at night, I wake up and my body's like ice
The sound of the running wild stallion, the noise of the mice
And I wondered if then I could hear into all of your dreams
I realize now it was really the sound of your screams
But death always leads into life
But the street fighter swallows the knife
Am I so crazy to feel that it's here prearranged?
The music must change
It's gets higher and higher
Smouldering like leaves in the 1
Then it bursts into fire
Its rhythm grows strong
It's so new and so strange
Like bells in the clouds, then again
The music must change
But is this song so different?
Am I doing it all again?
It may have been done before
But then music's an open door
Deep in the back of my is an unrealized sound
Every feeling I get from the street says it soon could be found
When I hear the cold lies of the pusher, I know it exists
It's confirmed in the eyes of the kids, emphasized with their fists
But the high has to rise from the low
Like volcanoes explode through the snow
The mosquito's sting brings a dream
But the poison's derange
The music must change
For we're chewing a bone
We soared like the sparrow hawk flied
Then we dropped like a stone
Like the tide and the waves
Growing slowly in range
Crushing mountains as old as the Earth