Straight: Steel Rebar 2008-2012 (38 Tons)

The tragic reality of today is reflected

in the true plight of our cultural existence:

we are spineless and cannot stand straight.

- Ai Weiwei

I went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art on Saturday 

to see According to What?, a touring exhibition 

of work by international artist Ai Weiwei.

I became aware of the artist through his role in the design of

the "Bird's Nest" stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympic

Games and, more recently, when he was detained

by the Chinese government in 2011 without any charges filed 

(after two months it was alleged he'd committed

"economic crimes," (i.e., not paying his taxes.) 

Ai Weiwei uses his considerable artistic skills

as a vehicle to express his dissatisfaction with the 

Chinese government's practices involving

democracy and human rights.

I had read about and seen photos of a number of his 

works, but I found myself surprisingly moved by

Straight: Steel Rebar 2008-2012 (38 Tons), which was

created in reaction to the deaths of an estimated 

5,000 children in shoddily constructed school buildings 

during the 2008 Sichwan earthquake.

His support of the Citizens' Investigation aimed to compile

a list of the casualties at the schools. A copy of that

list is posted on the gallery wall and, to date,

shows the names of well over 5,700 names of

dead and/or missing children.

Ai Weiwei and his associates were able to obtain

over 150 tons of twisted rebar from the schools,

which they have been able to straighten to near

pristine shape and used to create works to 

commemorate the children.

Thirty-eight tons of recycled steel has been used 

for this particular installation. Each piece was hammered 

approximately 200 times in order to straighten it.

Lying in such order, the jagged lengths reminded me 

of seismic graphs showing tremors that

brought the buildings down onto the unsuspecting

children and their teachers.