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Sculptures of this type were often made for personal devotion and served as portable shrines during travels or pilgrimage. On a lotus base the figure of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, of
infinite compassion and mercy, stands in front of a large flame-form aureole or mandorla signifying his god-like qualities and importance within the Buddhist pantheon. The rectangular plinth beneath him is decorated in high relief
with an incense burner between two small confronting lions on the front face, a design element that became commonplace by the end of the 4th century.
The open Porcelain Cube (2009) contrasts its elemental abstract form with the decorative pattern reminiscent of Chinese export porcelain. Part of a series playing with the idea of cubic meters.
Stools (2013), comprising 5,929 wooden stools from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and the Republican period, gathered from villages across northern China. The accumulation of individual stools forms a 72-foot square, creating an enormous variegated surface. Very few of these stools remain in Chinese households today, but they were once a ubiquitous staple of domestic life. Each stool reveals traces of use and evokes the experience of generations of lives. Ai Weiwei admires the stools for their simple design and solid structure, a design language that remained unchanged for thousands of years.
The Saudi flag with the shahada replaced by the words “I can’t breathe”, assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggis last words - in Lego.
During his stay in Lesbos in December 2015, Ai noticed that the coastline of the island was littered with life jackets and buoys that had been used by refugees to cross the Mediterranean. This prompted the artist to use life jackets in installations and sculptures on the theme of flight. In this artwork, the life jackets have been arranged in the shape of a lotus blossom, or water lily, with a crystal ball representig its heart. After the war and hardships, and after leaving hearth and home, this crystal ball might give the refugees a glimpse into an uncertain future.