In May 2010, Chinese conceptual artist and activist Ai Weiwei spoke via Skype with BAM/PFA's Lucinda Barnes and The San Francisco Chronicle's Kenneth Baker at San Francisco's Haines Gallery. Weiwei is among the most prominent and influential artists of his generation. Much of his work traffics in cheeky, variously veiled social commentaries; his artistic and critical treatments of the Chinese government, which heightened in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, has garnered him wide acclaim internationally and led to numerous confrontations with Chinese authorities. In these excerpts from the event, Ai discusses several of his works and exhibitions as well as the state of the individual in contemporary China, the effects of globalization on his work and what it means to make art--and be considered a dissident--under the current government. He also broaches notions of conceptual art, political usages of art and artistic usages of politics (20 minutes).

Our thanks to Haines Gallery, which provided the recording from which these excerpts were taken.