It's been a while since I've been in an art exhibition. I've missed several that I had intended to visit - including Jani Leinonen's School of Disobedience in Kiasma, which I pass everyday.

However, yesterday morning I noticed that Ai Weiwei @ Helsinki  in the Helsinki City Art Museum - calling itself HAM these days - was nearing its end, and decided to go there after work.

Ai_exhibition.jpg

I had seen impressive pictures of it in the media when it opened, but I in real life the works were disappointing. They did'nt feel nearly good as they had looked in photos and TV.  Besides, art that needs A4 size paper worth of explanations isn't doing what art in my mind should, and each of these had their sheets of paper in four languages. However, I took photos. And lo and behold, they look gpood even in my photos (better pictures at HAM site). What to think of sculpture that looks better in 2D?

Ai_tree_2.jpg

Ai_three_legged_table.jpg

Tree (fuzzy, I'm sorry) and Three-legged Table...

Ai_icosaedron.jpg

Ai_grapes.jpg

Icosaedron, and Grapes, my favourite. And of course, the walls are covered in IOUs.

What I can't understand is why authorities bother to persecute an artist as abstract as Ai. If they can't applaud, at least they could ignore him. Either way he'd become harmless.