AI Weiwei: Never Sorry 艾未未：草泥馬 Documentary (Review)

Never Sorry is a 2012 documentary film about Chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government. The documentary features Ai Weiwei’s thoughts on art, his art practice, his position in China, and the global art ecosystem, it also touches on his issues with the mainland’s government.

From watching the documentary, I felt that Ai WeiWei is not just an artist but someone who can influences many, followers of the same beliefs come together and supported him even though the government and their thinking are not aligned. This leads to many disagreements between the society and government, and the government silencing the people are against freedom of speech, which does not really exist in China whereby their freedom of speech is restricted and heavily censorship in the country. Hence, creating art with that voice will often lead to going against the laws or what they said "shaken the society". It is right to voice out for every human, but your country has been in the communist ruling system for more than 50 years, when people have been brainwashed, creating that change through art takes even longer for all to realise.

As a former refugee, he came across as the most authentic in his work, yet it might be biased as the artist himself have his own thinking, and making that work might sway towards a more biased opinion, but definitely valid. I admire how brave and strong-minded the person he is, believing in changing society starts with himself and the individual. He uses art to further enhance the changes he hopes to see in society and uses it as an aid for the chance. Art is not the main thing anymore in this case but more of an aid in my sense.

The only thing that I felt that compromised his morals was the affair that he had outside his marriage, as to how I have seen him as an upright man with morals. But however, this was compromised by the affair that was discussed in the film which made me question what is his actual moral values? If he could take so many actions in trying to change the society, however, in his own personal life he could not even manage his own marriage well how is he so sure that what he is doing in taking actions going against the government is right after all when he is not even doing right in marriage. As a husband, he should be loyal to his wife only, and not having an affair outside of marriage is what values any man should have. If I wouldn’t take his personal life into consideration on whether he is after all that “upright man”, I would have fully supported him.

Making art in different settings, for example, location matters, as if he did the same thing in the US he would not be charged as seriously as in China. An artist's personal story that involves society, community, and background, could influence how we see the artist as an artist and person depending on their actions, and what is the actual motive behind them be it positive or negative. Going against the government in your country, knowing that you will be punished, will you still go ahead and do it? “IS THAT WHAT YOU STRONGLY BELIEVED IN?” is a question that I believe many artists will one day come across and ask themselves. Should we be the change in society or should we just follow the flow?