“The man destroyed the large blue and white Porcelain Cube at a busy private opening for the exhibition “Who am I?” at Palazzo Fava in Bologna on the evening of September 21. Local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man who has been identified in Italian media as Vaclav Pisvejc, a provocateur and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting important works of art.”
“Ai himself is known for smashing works as well. The exhibition’s curator Arturo Galansino noted that several works in the show document the destruction of a precious ceramic. The most famous of these is Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), a triptych of black-and-white photographs in which the artist holds and then drops a 2,000-year-old vessel. It is a commentary on China’s deliberate erasure of its cultural heritage.”
Okay so this artist also destroys artifacts that are thousands of years old.
“The destruction that Ai Weiwei depicts in his works is a warning against the violence and injustice perpetrated by those in power,” he said. “[It] has nothing to do with this reckless and senseless act carried out by a habitual troublemaker seeking attention by damaging artists, works, monuments, and institutions.”
Imho there are other ways to prove that point.
However it is despicable that his artwork was destroyed by a trouble maker and the perpetrator should be dealt with accordingly.
“No, you don’t understand, it’s ok when I am the one doing it!”
Given that he destroyed the vase to gain popularity, wouldn’t be possible that this is another stunt to make people talk about him?
Notice that his name is even in the headline.