Thursday, April 3, 2014

Art and LIfe in China

My friend Karen Patterson gave an excellent talk at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary entitled: "Surveillance as an Art Form: Art, Life and Ai Wei Wei Under Scrutiny in the Peoples Republic of China". Karen spent 15 years, living and working in the artist community in Beijing. She was was married to the artist Wu Yuren and was a friend of Ai Weiwei. While we may know something in passing of the work of these artists, her talk gives us  close up view of the day-to-day struggles they face. The recording picks up just after the intro:
https://soundcloud.com/martinhoc/art-and-life-in-china

Ai Weiwei's website: http://aiweiwei.com
Karen's website:  http://www.xculturalconsulting.com,
Wu Yuren's website:http://www.wuyuren.com

Karen and Ai Weiwei