The installation fills the
entire Tower Room at Lysverket and consists of 81 large wooden balls which are
placed in a 9 by 9 meter square. The total number of balls coincides with the
number of days Ai Weiwei was imprisoned in 2011.
The artist has stated that the 9 by 9 meter formation draws its significance partly from the fact that 9 is the highest one digit number in China and that it symbolizes eternity. The balls are made from Huali Wood, each weighs 35 kilograms, and their polyhedron shape is based on sketches by Leonardo da Vinci.
Ai Weiwei got the idea of using this ancient shape from one of his son’s plastic toys. Together with his team, he has spent two years exploring the joining methods of traditional Chinese furniture, and the balls are put together completely without the use of either glue, screws or nails.
One of the curators of the exhibition, Feng Boyi, who has been Ai Weiwei’s friend for many years, says that the wooden objects are not connected together in any meaningful way. But they are sturdy, and thus serve as a symbolic reference to the rigorous tension of the Chinese social and ethical systems, and as an allegory for the internally stable state of Chinese society, which lacks the potential power of self-adjustment. The work also alludes to the conflict, contradiction and entanglement inherent in China’s modern historical progression.
The artist has stated that the 9 by 9 meter formation draws its significance partly from the fact that 9 is the highest one digit number in China and that it symbolizes eternity. The balls are made from Huali Wood, each weighs 35 kilograms, and their polyhedron shape is based on sketches by Leonardo da Vinci.
Ai Weiwei got the idea of using this ancient shape from one of his son’s plastic toys. Together with his team, he has spent two years exploring the joining methods of traditional Chinese furniture, and the balls are put together completely without the use of either glue, screws or nails.
One of the curators of the exhibition, Feng Boyi, who has been Ai Weiwei’s friend for many years, says that the wooden objects are not connected together in any meaningful way. But they are sturdy, and thus serve as a symbolic reference to the rigorous tension of the Chinese social and ethical systems, and as an allegory for the internally stable state of Chinese society, which lacks the potential power of self-adjustment. The work also alludes to the conflict, contradiction and entanglement inherent in China’s modern historical progression.