Ai Weiwei

Coca Cola Vase

Acrylic on Han dynasty vase

30 x 30 x 27 cm

Executed in 2011

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ai Weiwei (born 1957) is one of the most famous artists to emerge from modern-day China. As an activist, he uses his art and film work to draw attention to human rights violations and raise awareness of social, cultural and political issues in his native country and beyond.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Ai uses ceramic in his practice to bridge China of the past and China of today. He purchases historic vessels from markets and adapts them, thereby posing questions around cultural value; is a Neolithic vase dipped in paint more valuable as a contemporary artwork than it was as an antique original? In China, which is so marked by rapid change and development, Ai explores these tensions between old and new.

In this case, the rapid mass-industrialisation of China is represented by the logo of ubiquitous drinks company Coca-Cola logo painted onto a Han Dynasty vase (206 BC–220 AD), blurring notions of history and global branding. The painted letters defacing the vase could symbolise an erasure of traditional Chinese culture and craft in favour of globalisation and mass-production which are now increasingly synonymous with modern-day China’s identity and value.