This week in the magazine, Peter Schjeldahl reviews “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” at the Hirshhorn Museum, in Washington, D.C. The show is a retrospective of work by the Chinese artist and activist, ranging from video installations to enormous sculptures. “Ai broadcasts the jolting, even triumphalist, dynamism of a booming Chinese art world, on a grand scale,” Schjeldahl writes.
In this audio slide show, Schjeldahl describes Ai’s work as a test of his personal freedoms under the repressive Chinese government. “Ai is revealing where the lines are because he keeps crossing them,” Schjeldahl says. “Is Ai Weiwei a political artist, or an artful politician?”
