Ai Weiwei has become a Chinese celebrity through his politically provocative work. One of his most famous pieces is the performance “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995”, which was captured in a celebrated photo-triptych. Weiwei dropped an ancient ceramic vase, which smashed on the floor at his feet. This demonstrated his questioning attitude towards cultural values and social history.

My piece is influenced by Weiwei’s photo triptych. In it, the adult Weiwei is turned into the image of a child, making it at once less threatening, more whimsical, and captivating. The words “Weiwei Always Wins” add provocation and ego where there is none. There is neither ego nor agenda in a child. This is an intriguing thought to me: children don’t care about “winning” but they are very good at asking questions - especially truth-seeking questions, which, to this artist, communicate the point of both the original performance piece and my playful parody of it.