One of China’s best-known artists—ranked the most powerful person in contemporary art by ArtReview magazine—Ai Weiwei has been equally celebrated for his staunch defense of freedom of expression in China. An architect, photographer, curator and incessant blogger, he co-designed Beijing’s “Bird Cage” stadium for the 2008 Olympics. The film meets Ai as he is unveiling a recent work, a carpet of 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds created for the Tate Modern.

Screening with:
Nam June Paik: Open Your Eyes
Maria Anna Tappeiner | 2010 | Germany | 61m
Korean-born Nam Jun Paik (1932-2006) was one of the true pioneers of what has become media art: years before most of his contemporaries, he recognized the power of television for aesthetic and cultural expression. Tappeiner’s chronicle of Paik’s artistic development provides a perfect introduction to his work; among those discussing his work are his widow Shigeko Kubota, curators John Hanhardt and Wulf Herzogenrath, and artists Mary Bauermeister and Ingo Günther.