Study of Perspective

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Study of Perspective is a series of photographs taken by Ai Weiwei from 1995 to 2010 . The number of associated images varies according to different sources of information, the catalog for the exhibition “Ai Weiwei: Interlacing” from 2011 lists 36 images. The different numbers can be explained by the constant continuation of the series - also on Ai Weiwei's blog .

description

All images are structured in the same way, the camera in front of his eye, Ai Weiwei photographs his outstretched left arm with a raised middle finger, aiming at different backgrounds. The first of these pictures was taken in 1995 on Tian'anmen Square in Beijing; the raised hand directed towards the Gate of Heavenly Peace . In the course of time, many other buildings, such as the White House or the Reichstag in Berlin , but also landscapes, such as one of Inner Mongolia, were added. Well-known places or attractions are increasingly being photographed. A picture from his installation “Fountain of Light” is also part of the series in which he lifts his finger.

Interpretations

The work is mostly interpreted politically because of Ai Weiwei's efforts to achieve freedom of expression. The gesture of the raised middle finger, the so-called stinking finger , has a long tradition and goes back to antiquity ; symbolizes the phallus with the fist as testicle and was called digitus impudicus digitus impudicus ( Latin : digitus [the finger]; impudens [shameless, impudent]). The raised middle finger has been handed down as a threatening gesture from the Middle Ages , if one was able to stretch the string of a bow with his strong finger. Today the raised middle finger is considered an offensive gesture internationally. Ai Weiwei uses this strong symbol to irritate the viewer. The title is chosen contrary to the pictorial effect. This - "Study of perspective" - ​​puts the gesture in a technical context that is known from photography with cameras without a device for determining the sharpness , in order to be able to estimate distances.

To do this, hold your thumb in front of you with an outstretched arm and aim at your target with an open eye. When the eye changes, the thumb jumps a certain distance. Multiplied by a factor of 10, the estimated distance, which the finger imaginarily scans, results in the distance to the destination. This technique is based on the mathematical formulas of the ray theorems . But even without this prior knowledge, the title relativizes the strong gesture, since it is a “study”.

A single photograph in the series makes the viewer feel, or at least relate, a defensive attitude towards the background. This is reinforced by the first-person perspective , which enables identification with the content of the picture and thus with the photographer. This principle of “human recognition” (Stephan Günzel in “Egoshooter”, 2012) is also used in first person shooters.

The - mostly well-known - locations arouse their own associations in the viewer, which are compared with the negative gesture. Here comes the moment of irritation. In the context of the other pictures in the series, the impression arises of a general distancing from the chosen background motifs.

literature

Web links

  • Images at Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “Ai Weiwei: Interlacing”, Ed. Urs Stahel, Göttingen, 2011.
  2. ↑ Stahel, Urs: Ai Weiwei - Interlacing. Steidl-Verlag , Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-86930-377-2 , p. 436
  3. ↑ Special issue Ai Weiwei. Du (magazine) # 817, Zurich 2011 (June) ISBN 3-905931-09-5
  4. ^ Günzel, Stephan: Egoshooter. Campus-Verlag , Frankfurt 2012, ISBN 978-3-593-39755-9