•Visiting Alcatraz to see Ai Weiwei’s “@Large” exhibition, Todd Berman and his family were peering at “Trace,” the artist’s Lego portraits of political prisoners. At the side of the portraits, Berman noticed two kids, playing with their own Legos, transported to the island for their use that day. “The children squabbled over their toys,” says Berman, perhaps a metaphor for “humanity’s incapacity to share scarce resources, leading to the necessity for political dissent.” (Or maybe just a fight over who gets to use which piece first.)
Berman talked with the father of the kids, who told him they’d brought their own after being informed that although they’d be seeing Legos, they wouldn’t be free to play with the ones the artist had used.
And so, the playfulness of Ai Weiwei, and contemporary art in general, is celebrated.