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Western Screech Owl Habitats (installation view)
Presidio Habitats

Ai Weiwei

Western Screech Owl Habitats

Through the addition of a strategically placed aperture, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei transformed a classical Chinese vessel type into a living environment for the Western Screech-Owl. These elegant and purposefully ornamental habitats evoked a range of associations—the Presidio’s Pacific Rim orientation, San Francisco’s Chinese heritage, and the transmission and transformation of culture through trade.

  • Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
    Installation Views
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

Top: Ai Weiwei, Western Screech Owl Habitats, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines

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    • Sanctuary
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    • International Orange
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      • Ai Weiwei
      • Philippe Becker Design
      • CEBRA
      • Chadwick Studio
      • Mark Dion with Nitin Jayaswal
      • Fritz Haeg
      • Jensen Architects
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      • Nathan Lynch
      • Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects
      • Surface Design Inc.
      • Taalman Koch Architecture
    • 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
  • Virtual Tour: Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
  • Artist Programs

Field Notes

  • Allison Stone talks Art in the Presidio

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

  • Q&A with “Home Land Security” Curator Cheryl Haines

Artist Editions

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  • We are thrilled to share with @FirstRun that Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is now available for Video on Demand in North A… https://t.co/g2FFNB4YIw
  • We truly enjoyed capturing this moment when Ai Weiwei met Chelsea Manning. View our film at https://t.co/x5idvTUW25 https://t.co/9FoH1FTDTX

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Field Notes

  • Ai Weiwei Yours Truly Facebook Banner

    “Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly” Virtual Cinema Release

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