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Socialising and Culture

Chinese Cycling Art: Ai Weiwei’s Sculptures Symbolize Freedom

By Monica Buck
Chinese Cycling Art: Ai Weiwei’s Sculptures Symbolize Freedom

Bicycles have been part of the Chinese artist’s art installations since “Very Yao” in 2008. And as the years pass, his works have got bigger and bigger. Ai Weiwei is using loads of the Shanghai Forever Company bicycles to make massive artworks. Their repetitiveness is supposed to allude to mass production, which is a key feature of Chinese industry. The static arrangements offer an illusion of movement, thus symbolizing the freedom that a bicycle can give you. Or perhaps the illusion of movement is just another commentary on Chinese society? Only Ai Weiwei knows.

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