World Map

China is blindly producing for the demands of the market… My work very much relates to this blind production of things. I’m part of it, which is a bit of a nonsense.  Ai Weiwei

Although dealing with complex issues Ai Weiwei’s artworks are often beautifully simple in their visual expression. World Map is a three-dimensional work made of thousands of layers of thin cotton cloth. The map is created in a way that makes it extremely labor- intensive to install, illustrating China’s status as a platform for cheap labor in the clothing industry. The challenge lies in getting the thousands of pieces to fit together as perfectly as possible.

The work focuses on the individual as opposed to the masses, thereby also emphasizing the country’s leading roll in global trade. China is the world’s largest producer of cotton and a leading manufacturer of textiles and clothes. The difficulty of assembling the parts that make up the work also provokes thoughts regarding national and international unity.

Tessa Praun, Curator, January 2012