City of Gaia

Ai Weiwei

〈The Animal That Looks Like a Llama But is Really an Alpaca〉, 2015.

Wall paper, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio.

〈Level〉, 2019.

Cast iron, 198 × 434 × 237 cm.
Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

〈Palace〉, 2019.

Cast iron, 143×256×185cm.
Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

Ai Weiwei presents Level and Palace from his Roots series at this exhibition. The Roots series is comprised of monumental iron sculptures cast from giant tree roots brought from Brazil. Ai worked with local artisans and other community members during a visit to Trancoso in Brazil to locate roots of the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree found in the Bahia tropical rainforest. Parts of the roots of these rare trees, some of which are over a thousand years old, are elaborately molded, conjoined, and cast to create impressive compositions and bold forms that reflect Brazilian heritage. Resembling great beasts or fantastical creatures, each of these two works consists of shattered and stretched-out forms of a root that radiates outwards from the center.

Cast iron, the material for the Roots series, can be considered more a source of tools that were used by ancient cultures for woodworking, such as felling trees, than as a refined art material such as bronze or steel. In other words, it is not nature but humans who brought these roots into the world using ancient techniques of molding and iron casting. These methods represent traditional ways of life that have been upended by industrialization and perpetual modernization. The artist is attempting to demonstrate how progress and development come at the expense of cultural and social values.