Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is a conceptual artist, highly critical of society and dedicated to the creation of and friction between realities. As an architect, sculptor, photographer, blogger, twitterer, interview artist and political activist, Weiwei acts as a seismograph for current social problems, and blends the boundaries between art and life. Interlacing presents the complexity of Weiwei's oeuvre through blogs, critical essays and hundreds of photographs. Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 and studied at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1978 he co-founded the artist collective The Stars and in 1981 studied under Sean Scully at Parsons School of Design in New York. In 1997 Weiwei co-founded China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), and in 1999 he opened his studio in Caochangdi. An artist of international acclaim with a particular interest in architecture, Weiwei was instrumental in the design of Beijing's famous 'bird's nest' Olympic stadium.