Ai WeiWei Song Dynasty Teapot Spout Shards at Marciano in LA

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Victoria
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Tue Nov 27, 2018 5:44 pm

Ai WeiWei’s ‘Spouts’ exhibit at Marciano Foundation in Los Angeles. +~300,000 broken teapot spouts dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) are laid out in a rectangular field on the gallery floor. Notice the upturned curvature on all the spouts. Apparently dragon kiln ceramic items that were not perfect were routinely smashed up and discarded. Spout, as mouth, as broken freedom of speech 🤐. .. conceptual art piece.

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Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:22 pm

Nice! Becomes even more poignant in Chinese, as the commonly used word for spout is Tsuiba, lips.
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Victoria
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Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:36 pm

Oh, good to know, I was not aware of this. Thanks.
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Tue Nov 27, 2018 8:01 pm

Somehow crazy to think that you can still find this amount of really old things in China! Makes me think of another Aiweiwei installation, where he build something out of really old doors and chairs.
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Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:01 pm

In another exhibition at 21er haus in Vienna he purchased an old ‘Ancestral Hall’ and placed ‘Pu’erh Teahouses’ and the tea spouts ‘Spouts’ (above) both referencing back to the tea ceremony, full of cultural symbolism. The hall was originally “built in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the Cultural Revolution, the Wang family, rich tea merchants, were expelled and the ancestral hall was abandoned..... To save this cultural asset, Ai Weiwei acquired the ancestral hall from an investor. In the 21er house he puts it back on - quite a veritable pointer to the millennia-old culture of China.”
....”old traditions, craft techniques and perfect craftsmanship are at the center of Ais considerations. To deal with the almost defunct techniques, methods and motives of Chinese culture is one of the central aspects of Ai Weiwei's work.”
Excerpts from ’Ai Weiwei at the 21er Haus, A temple in the tail construction’, Published by Alexandra Matzner From July 13th, 2016

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Pu’erh Teahouses © Ai Weiwei Studio, Photo: © Alexandra Matzner.
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Pu’erh Teahouses © Ai Weiwei Studio, Photo: © Alexandra Matzner.
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“Ai Weiwei, ancestral hall of the Wang family, roof construction, installation in the 21er Haus,” Photo: Alexandra Matzner.
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Photo: Alexandra Matzner.
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Photo: Alexandra Matzner.
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Tue Nov 27, 2018 10:00 pm

Beautiful!
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