Colored Vases 2006

Ai Weiwei made these 'Colored Vases' by dripping paint onto ancient pottery. Right away, the clash of then and now grabs you. There's a process at play, a kind of reckless re-do. The eye pops with all these clashing colors. Up close, you can see the drips frozen mid-act, thick in some spots, thinner in others. Each vase has its own personality, its own little color story unfolding. Look at that one with the yellow on top and the orange seeping through; it’s as if the vase is sweating! I'm also drawn to the way the paint is applied so randomly and crudely; you know, without being too fussy. For me, it’s like seeing a bit of Christopher Wool in the splatters, just with a sense of humor. This piece doesn’t hide anything; it’s all about embracing the mess, making something new from old. Art is never really finished anyway; it just keeps getting repainted and re-thought, like these vases.