Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is known for raising his middle finger to authority in one of his most famous series. Perspective study. But now, members of the public can post their own “finger-up” works for a new digital work online.
Ai Weiwei’s finger superimposed on Banksy’s Well Hung Lover (2006) in Bristol, England
Courtesy of Avant Arte
Ai has partnered with the company Avant Arte, providing a platform called Major where participants can overlay Ai Weiwei’s outstretched arm on various searchable locations. Users can also download a high resolution “cutout” of Ai’s arm to overlay on their own images. “The archive of images will be exhibited on avantarte.com and people are encouraged to use #studyofperspective when sharing on social media,” reads a project statement. Many remarkable monuments have been chosen such as the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and the Trump Tower. Other targets include the bank Credit Suisse as well as works of art by Vincent Van Gogh, Hans Holbein The Younger and Banksy.
by Ai Weiwei Middle finger in red (2023), 24h paper edition with Avant Arte
Image courtesy of Avant Arte
THE Major project champions a new exhibition of Ai’s works at the Design Museum in London. Avant Arte also sells a time-limited screen-printed edition, Middle finger in red (€410) for 24 hours on March 30 (65% of the profits from the sale will be donated to the Design Museum).
In a previous interview with The arts journal, Ai discussed M+ Museum Hong Kong’s decision to remove Study of Perspective from the exhibition featuring Uli Sigg’s collection. In March 2021, M+ released a statement saying he had no plans to show the piece.
