Ai Weiwei

Watermelon
glazed porcelain

diameter: 38 cm. 13 in.

Executed in 2006.

The porcelain for this work was fired using traditional processes in Jingdezhen and the pieces are hand sculpted and painted. The subject of the Watermelon relates to a tradition in Chinese ceramics of mimicking natural organic forms.
Weiwei’s love of ceramics is equally matched by his disdain for the medium: he is famous for dipping Neolithic vases in industrial paint, and for dropping a 2000-year-old glazed stoneware urn in 1995. On this topic he remarks, "We are learning from the past...You have to know it to destroy it."