The Art of Play with Ai Weiwei: An Interview

At Vito Schnabel Gallery, I talked with legendary conceptual artist, social activist and genuine provocateur Ai Weiwei about, among many other things, his new exhibition, “Child’s Play,” which runs through February 22. It showcases pixel-like Lego wall works of reimagined classic paintings and headline news that question the construction of our very reality. Our wide-ranging discussion has been edited for clarity and length.

Stephen Wozniak for Observer: Child’s Play is an extraordinary show featuring big art and even bigger themes. You’ve worked with Legos for over ten years. These toy blocks seem like a truly fun, colorful and infinitely possible medium. What do they represent to you, and how do you think audiences perceive them?

Ai Weiwei: First, I always like to have a new possibility… to use a new language. Because, you know, the act and goal of painting has mostly been the same for years: to make the image look real, right? At least in the beginning of art.

But that’s not your goal. 

That’s not my goal, but the problem is in the question, “What is real? Is art real, or is there a new reality?” So, I realized a Lego can do the job of presenting this question. It’s industrially made, and it’s structured. Also, they’re created by a computer—made from a digital design. So, the corresponding image pixels can be precisely located or identified to make my art out of Lego bricks. That language not only relates to the earlier Roman or Greek mosaics but also relates to new technology like the Internet and the pixel…