This presentation is about an artist in china who is inspired by light.

1. TeachArtWiki

3. Title: Descending LightDate: 2007Artist: Ai WeiweiCountry: ChinaCulture: ChinesePeriod: Contempoary, ModernSize: 156" x 180" x 268"Medium: brass, crystal, and electric bulbs

4. Ai Weiwei's 2007 Descending Light is a brilliant sculptural achievement echoing his earlier chandelier forms like, Chandelier, 2002, and Fountain of Light, 2007. The form has now buckled and appears to have collasped under its own weight and pressure as a visual analogy to the conditions being seen in modern China as the country surges ahead at any cost to become an industrialized, first world country. Weiwei demonstrates his understanding of shape, form, and color as the piece revolves around the symbolicly Chinese red and the use of concentric circles uninterupted by the apparent collaspe.

5. Consisting of 7 tiered layers of brass framed concentric circles, 60,000 ruby red crystals and electric light bulbs, Descending Light, fully explores the twisted shape of a fallen chandelier. Frozen in a posture of great distress, the massive form fully supports itself against the floor as gravity seemingly pulls it upward during its epic fall capturing the moment before impact and its complete destruction.

6. Color is a central focus in this work. The use of the thoroughly Chinese red reminds the viewer of the bold red star of communism first used by the Russian communist and socialist parties that was later adopted by the Chinese. The color red is a symbol of China; besides its association to communism, it is the color of celebration and festivities. Red also represents the blood spilled by the Chinese people for the sake of their republic. It is the color of the sun according to Chinese mythology. Complementing the red is the delicate brass shining warmly with a metalic sheen that provides a contrasting visual element from the prismatic quality of the glass crystals. Like the rising Eastern sun, these two colors combined create a unique veiwing experience as warm rays radiate through the crystals, via the inner electric blubs, reminding us that even in a fallen and comprimised posture, China still exemplifies great beauty.

7. The title of this sculpture refers to its geometric construction in which the light appears at the end of a series of diminishing concentric circles. The use of brilliant red crystals is deliberate. The crystals used in this piece were made in Zhiejiang province, the source of crystals used for the chandeliers in China's Great Hall of the People. In its buckled and distressed posture, it is theorized that it represents the fall of the established order of China as it collapses inwardly on itself.

8. The shape and the placement of this piece also resembles the horn of plenty, the artist may be refering to the rise of materialism and capitalism in current China and its influence on the masses. Ai Weiwei expresses his criticism of the current economic, social and political unrest in China through his art.

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