Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) yesterday said he would set up collection points to receive Lego block donations after he set off a social media storm on Sunday by accusing the Danish company of refusing a bulk order on political grounds.
The children’s toy became embroiled in controversy when Ai said its manufacturer had refused to supply him directly as it “cannot approve the use of Lego for political works.”
He used the bricks to create portraits of 175 political activists from around the world for an exhibition at Alcatraz prison in the US last year, and intended to create a Lego artwork for a new exhibition, titled “Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei” at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, that is set to open in December.
The museum’s curatorial team had placed a bulk order for Lego bricks, but it was rejected by the company last month.
Fans offered online to give him their Lego blocks, and a post on his Instagram account yesterday said: “Ai Weiwei has now decided to make a new work to defend freedom of speech and ‘political art.’ Ai Weiwei Studio will announce the project description and Lego collection points in different cities.”
One collection point, a car parked outside his studio in Beijing, was shown with some bricks on the sunroof.
His Instagram account also shows a picture of Lego bricks in a toilet bowl, with the caption “Everything is awesome” — the tagline of the Lego movie.
One supporter posting on Twitter told the manufacturer: “Your execs need to go watch the @TheLEGOMovie and think about what they’ve done.”
Another said: “I’m picturing a Lego sculpture of a giant Lego character shooting itself in the foot.”
Ai also said that UK-based Merlin Entertainments, which owns and operates Legoland theme parks, announced plans for a facility in Shanghai last week during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Britain.
Lego’s parent company, Kirkbi, owns a 30 percent stake in Merlin.
In a statement to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Denmark-based Lego said: “As a company dedicated to delivering great creative play experiences to children, we refrain — on a global level — from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of Lego bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda. This principle is not new.”
Ai has been targeted by Chinese authorities for his advocacy of democracy and human rights as well as other criticisms of the government, including in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. He was detained for 81 days in 2011 and subsequently placed under house arrest, with his passport confiscated. The document was only returned in July, enabling him to travel to Europe.
An op-ed in the Global Times newspaper, affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily, praised Lego for “refusing to be implicated in a political statement” and being motivated by “good business sense.”
It is not the first time Lego has rejected a proposal on the grounds of political connotations, reports say.
A Lego set of the four female members of the US Supreme Court was rejected by the Lego Ideas project, which allows members of the public to suggest new products, according to National Public Radio in the US.
The idea reportedly ran afoul of the company’s Acceptable Project Content, which states that projects related to “politics and political symbols, campaigns or movements” will not be accepted because they “do not fit our brand values.”
However, the company offers a model of the Lincoln Memorial and a White House set.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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