Zodica by Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei’s acclaim as artist-philosopher-dissident reaches beyond the metropolitan art markets. After studying in ‘80s New York, Ai returned to China, where his determination to name the victims of political and natural disasters landed him in trouble. He’s now in exile.
Ai structured his graphic memoir around the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac—not Leo, Capricorn and company but the Horse, the Dragon and friends. Black and white text panels, drawn by Italian cartoonist Gianluca Constantini, provide elegant illustrations for Ai’s musings. Zodiac includes formative childhood memories, especially his family’s deportation to a remote Chinese province during the Cultural Revolution (his father’s poetry displeased Mao Zedong) where he learned about the courage necessary to maintain integrity. Some of the text takes the form of conversations with his young son “What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?” the boy asks. “I had no toys. We played under harsh conditions,” Ai answers. “Once I built a stove because we didn’t have one.”
Zodiac ambles across Chinese political and cultural history, alluding to some of his most famous artworks and reflecting on the search for meaning. “There are never too many stories—especially when they explain who we are,” he says. The shadow of the Chinese Communist dictatorship of Ai’s childhood and its more polished successor regime hangs over Zodiac. What’s to be done? “If you give space to fear you should stay locked in your room,” Ai says.
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