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Past

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz

September 27, 2014 – April 26, 2015 at Alcatraz Island

“The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”
— Ai Weiwei

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is internationally renowned for work that defies the distinction between art and activism. In this exhibition of new works created specifically for Alcatraz, Ai responded to the island’s layered legacy as a 19th-century military fortress, a notorious federal penitentiary, a site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America’s most visited national parks. Revealing new perspectives on Alcatraz, the exhibition raised questions about freedom of expression and human rights that resonated far beyond this particular place.

Ai’s sculpture, sound, and mixed-media installations occupied four locations in the former prison: the New Industries Building; a group of cells in A Block; the Hospital; and the Dining Hall. With the exception of the Dining Hall, these areas were usually restricted to the public, but all were open throughout the run of the exhibition. @Large turned Alcatraz into a space for dialogue about how we define liberty and justice, individual rights and personal responsibility. In artworks that balanced political impact with aesthetic grace, the exhibition directly and imaginatively addressed the situation of people around the world who have been deprived of their freedom for speaking out about their beliefs — people like Ai himself.

A vocal critic of his nation’s government, Ai was secretly detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011, and only regained possession of his passport on July 22, 2015. As a result, the artist was unable to visit Alcatraz during the planning of this exhibition; he developed the artwork at his studio in Beijing, with the help of the FOR-SITE Foundation. Ai embraced the ironies of creating site-specific art for a place he couldn’t see, and of celebrating free expression while working under severe constraints. Conflict and struggle have only galvanized the artist’s commitment to art as an act of conscience. With this project, he aimed to expand our understanding of “the purpose of art, which is the fight for freedom.”

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Featured Works

  • Ai Weiwei, With Wind, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz)
    With Wind
  • Ai Weiwei, Trace, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz)
    Trace
  • Ai Weiwei, Refraction, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz)
    Refraction
  • Ai Weiwei, Stay Tuned, 2014 (installation detail, A Block, Alcatraz)
    Stay Tuned
  • Entrance to the psychiatric observation rooms, Alcatraz Hospital
    Illumination
  • Ai Weiwei, Blossom, 2014 (installation detail, Alcatraz Hospital)
    Blossom
  • Yours Truly postcards completed by visitors to @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
    Yours Truly

Related Media

  • Video: Inside @Large
  • Ai Weiwei, With Wind, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, With Wind, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, With Wind, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Trace, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Trace, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Trace, 2014 (detail); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Refraction, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Refraction, 2014 (installation view, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Refraction, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Stay Tuned, 2014 (installation detail, A Block, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Stay Tuned, 2014 (installation detail, A Block, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Blossom, 2014 (installation detail, Alcatraz Hospital); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Blossom, 2014 (installation detail, Alcatraz Hospital); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Entrance to the psychiatric observation rooms in Alcatraz Hospital, site of Ai Weiwei’s sound installation Illumination, 2014; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Psychiatric observation room in Alcatraz Hospital, site of Ai Weiwei’s sound installation Illumination, 2014; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Yours Truly, 2014 (installation view, Alcatraz Dining Hall); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei, Yours Truly, 2014 (installation detail, Alcatraz Dining Hall); photo: Jan Stürmann
    Installation Views
  • Exhibition curator Cheryl Haines consults with Ai Weiwei at the artist's studio in Beijing, June 2014; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Ai Weiwei and curator Cheryl Haines meet at the artist's studio, with design studies for Trace laid out on the floor; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Curator Cheryl Haines and Ai Weiwei discuss preliminary designs for With Wind at the artist's studio in Beijing; photo: Jan Stürmann
    A model of Refraction at Ai Weiwei's studio in Beijing; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Porcelain flowers for Blossom in preparation at Ai Weiwei's studio in Beijing; photo: Jan Stürmann
    Designers assemble portraits for Trace at Ai Weiwei's studio in Beijing; photo: Jan Stürmann
    A volunteer assembles a portrait for Trace in San Francisco; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Installing Trace in the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Installing Trace in the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Unpacking the porcelain flowers for Blossom in the Hospital; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Installing Refraction in the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Installing Refraction in the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    The head portion of With Wind suspended in a shipping container outside the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Installing With Wind in the New Industries Building; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Curator Cheryl Haines consults with Stay Tuned sound designers in A Block; photo: Nina Dietzel
    Behind the Scenes
  • @Large on Google Cultural Institute
  • In the Press
Ai Weiwei
Ai WeiweiChinese, born 1957

Ai Weiwei is a Beijing-based artist and activist whose work encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, film, architecture, curation, and social criticism. His art has been featured in major solo exhibitions including Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, UK, 2014; Evidence at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 2014; and Ai Weiwei: According to What?, which was organized by the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, in 2009, and traveled to North American venues in 2013–14. Ai collaborated with architects Herzog & de Meuron on the “bird’s nest” stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2015.

Ai Weiwei Website

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz was presented by the FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
@Large project partner logos

Support for the exhibition is provided by Roger Evans and Aey Phanachet, the Fisher family, and other generous donors.

FOR-SITE Foundation project team: Cheryl Haines, executive director and exhibition curator; Marnie Burke de Guzman, special projects director; Jackie von Treskow, program director; Alison Konecki, development and outreach associate; Miegan Riddle, development consultant; Jennifer Burke/Industry, visual design; Juliet Clark, writer and editor; Tyler Reed, content manager; Jan Stürmann, video production; Ari Salomon, web developer

Projects

  • Overview
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    • Sanctuary
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    • @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
      • With Wind
      • Trace
      • Refraction
      • Stay Tuned
      • Illumination
      • Blossom
      • Yours Truly
    • Art About Place: FOR-SITE Foundation at the Presidio
    • International Orange
    • Presidio Habitats
    • The Marvelous Museum: A Mark Dion Project
    • Pae White: In Between the Outside-In
    • Chris Drury: Mushrooms | Clouds
    • Shi Guorui: Reproduction and Refashioning
    • Richard Long: The Path Is the Place Is the Line
    • New Work by Cornelia Parker
  • Plan a Visit
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Field Notes

  • FOR-SITE Foundation to host “Ai Weiwei: LEGO Collection Point” at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

  • Beyond Alcatraz: @Large One Year Later

  • Yours Truly postcards completed by visitors to @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz

    @Large: Attendance, Accolades, and Impact

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Twitter

  • Great insights into @aiww's very personal inspiration for "Yours Truly" -- be sure to give this one a read! https://t.co/5ushHYdT89
  • @YoursTrulyDoc was born in SF and celebrates an exhibition that wouldn't have been possible without the support of… https://t.co/3EJSqtxqdw

Instagram

  • This #TBT we’re taking it all the way back to the assembly of “Trace,” which was the first work of Weiwei’s to utilize his now signature material, LEGO bricks. While the 38 Chinese portraits were assembled by Weiwei’s studio, the rest of the 176 portraits were assembled right here in San Francisco by 82 volunteers. It was a clandestine operation (we of course wanted to keep the work a secret until the exhibition opening), and an intense one — just look at the portrait being assembled here! (Note: this is “Trace” volunteer @_colinwright, who also happens to be one of the editors on the @YoursTrulyDoc film. We ❤️ our FOR-SITE family!). Oh, and let us leave you with this final boggling statistic: “Trace” was comprised of 1.2 MILLION LEGO bricks 🤯 (swipe to photo 2 for a glimpse at what that looks like.) __ #ArtAboutPlace #AiWeiwei #YoursTrulyDoc #Alcatraz
  • Messages of hope and support are currently making their way from San Francisco to prisoners of conscience around the world. Thank you to everyone who wrote a postcard at last week’s world premiere screening of @yourstrulydoc! . . . . . . . . . . #YoursTrulyDoc #AiWeiwei #ArtAboutPlace #SFFILM #SFFILMFestival
  • Behind @YoursTrulyDoc is an incredible team of editors, producers, designers, and more. A huge shout-out to this talented bunch! __ Photo: @claudinegossett #YoursTrulyDoc #AiWeiwei #SFFILM #SFFilmFestival
  • @yourstrulydoc is a film born in San Francisco that celebrates an exhibition which wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the San Francisco community. A big thank you to @sffilm for giving the film its world premiere in this amazing city! 📸: Pamela Gentile, courtesy @sffilm . . . . . . . #AiWeiwei #YoursTrulyDoc #SFFILM #SFFILMFestival #Alcatraz #HumanRights

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Field Notes

  • Allison Stone talks Art in the Presidio

  • Art in the Parks and “Home Land Security”: A Partner’s Perspective

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