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paisleygreen's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
"We do not cooperate with anyone, anything. This is a challenge to all the powers, authorities, and the system. It is small yet not to be ignored, like a nail in the eye, a thorn in the flesh, a little grain of sand in the shoeโit reflects a valuable cultural spirit." - Ai Weiwei, interview for Art World Magazine
Zodiac is a graphic memoir by one of our greatest contemporary artists, Ai Weiwei, whose political art and anti-oppression activism has often stirred up what the late John Lewis called "good trouble". The art, by Gianluca Costantini, is evocative, and the book is organized into 12 chapters that reflect the Chinese zodiac signs; the stories within each chapter evoke some aspect of that animal. It's a great introduction to Ai's biography, from growing up in Mao's China, to discovering art as a tool of self-expression and activism, to being detained for his art. I think anyone who's familiar with Ai Weiwei's work, or who hasn't heard of it yet, would enjoy this book.
I had two wishes for this book: 1) that Ai Weiwei would contribute to the art of the memoir in some way. Costantini did a great job of bringing Ai's life and art to the page, but Ai Weiwei is an artist, and I wish he brought some of his own talents to this graphic memoir format. 2) That this memoir went into more depth about Ai Weiwei's emotions. It's a great manifesto for the power and purpose of art in contemporary society, but as a memoir, I wished he'd had deeper introspection on parts of his life that informed his art.
Overall, though, I very much enjoyed this graphic memoir. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"Any artist who isn't an activist is a dead artist. I try to create works with honesty and that bear relationship to my life, to reflect the place and time in which I live. I hope that when future generations see my work, they will understand my struggle as an artist. I hope that they will be conscious of artists' efforts to protect freedom of speech and expression." - p. 165
Zodiac is a graphic memoir by one of our greatest contemporary artists, Ai Weiwei, whose political art and anti-oppression activism has often stirred up what the late John Lewis called "good trouble". The art, by Gianluca Costantini, is evocative, and the book is organized into 12 chapters that reflect the Chinese zodiac signs; the stories within each chapter evoke some aspect of that animal. It's a great introduction to Ai's biography, from growing up in Mao's China, to discovering art as a tool of self-expression and activism, to being detained for his art. I think anyone who's familiar with Ai Weiwei's work, or who hasn't heard of it yet, would enjoy this book.
I had two wishes for this book: 1) that Ai Weiwei would contribute to the art of the memoir in some way. Costantini did a great job of bringing Ai's life and art to the page, but Ai Weiwei is an artist, and I wish he brought some of his own talents to this graphic memoir format. 2) That this memoir went into more depth about Ai Weiwei's emotions. It's a great manifesto for the power and purpose of art in contemporary society, but as a memoir, I wished he'd had deeper introspection on parts of his life that informed his art.
Overall, though, I very much enjoyed this graphic memoir. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"Any artist who isn't an activist is a dead artist. I try to create works with honesty and that bear relationship to my life, to reflect the place and time in which I live. I hope that when future generations see my work, they will understand my struggle as an artist. I hope that they will be conscious of artists' efforts to protect freedom of speech and expression." - p. 165
krislea's review against another edition
3.0
I was intrigued by the idea of a graphic memoir, and I found the use of the Chinese Zodiac to explain Ai Weiwei's life through imagery successful ... but man, there's a lot going on here. I am familiar with the artist so I didn't learn a whole lot about his work, but I did learn things about Chinese culture that I did not know. Overall a very cool project.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
nathansnook's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Major thanks to NetGalley and Ten Speed Graphic for offering an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:
"๐๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ต."
Through Waking Life imagery where dreams and imagination combine to weave an intricate tapestry of all the moments where Weiwei felt most alien, we are graciously given a tapestry collecting the harsh brutality of the Chinese police, censorship and where his art stands between the world and China all done through the examinations of the zodiac animals.
Though heavy-handed at times, Weiwei tries to embed what he has learned and what he has seen sporadically throughout his years as an artist, a prisoner, and a human being.
"๐๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ต."
Through Waking Life imagery where dreams and imagination combine to weave an intricate tapestry of all the moments where Weiwei felt most alien, we are graciously given a tapestry collecting the harsh brutality of the Chinese police, censorship and where his art stands between the world and China all done through the examinations of the zodiac animals.
Though heavy-handed at times, Weiwei tries to embed what he has learned and what he has seen sporadically throughout his years as an artist, a prisoner, and a human being.
sidekicksam's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
Zodiac is the graphic memoir of Ai Weiwei, renowned Chinese artist and activist. It's not so much a literal depiction of his life, but a legacy for his son to read about him and his life. We explore Ai's life from his childhood, his father's imprisonment and exile, his own imprisonment, and his art, all woven together by the Chinese zodiac signs.
Though some of the stories/explanations went a bit over my head without proper research what everything meant (historically, but also his art installations that I was unfamiliar with), this is a beautiful and (to me) unique memoir. If you're interested in Ai Weiwei, graphic novels or Chinese folklore and culture, this one is definitely for you!
Though some of the stories/explanations went a bit over my head without proper research what everything meant (historically, but also his art installations that I was unfamiliar with), this is a beautiful and (to me) unique memoir. If you're interested in Ai Weiwei, graphic novels or Chinese folklore and culture, this one is definitely for you!
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