I recently completed the book entitled “Ai Weiwei Speaks” curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. I have been interested in Ai Weiwei for several years now, having been primarily exposed to him via the film “Never Sorry” by Alison Klayman. Through the interviews captured in this text, I’ve come across several quotes that reflect my own thoughts. Here, Ai Weiwei talks briefly about the writing process:
“I like writing the most. If I have to value it against all human activities, writing is the most interesting form, because it relates to everybody and it’s a form that everybody can understand. During the Cultural Revolution we never had a chance to write, besides writing some critical stuff, so I really like to pick up on that, and them blog gives me a chance. [..] So in the blog I did over 200 pieces of writing and interviews which really put me in a critical position – you have to write it down, it’s black and white, it’s in words, and they can see it, so you really have no plan to escape. I really love it, and I think it’s important for you, as a person, to exercise, to clear out what you really want to say. Maybe you’re just empty, but maybe you really have to define this emptiness and be clear.”
When I first started writing in 2007, many of the ideas that I captured in my blog were ones that related primarily to events and things I was experiencing during that time. Ultimately, the posts focused primarily on building and increasing my overall sense of awareness. Having no other way to manage the emotions and thoughts that were effectively “running my life,” writing, to me, seemed to be the best way to manage them.
In the excerpt above, Ai Weiwei talks briefly about the “emptiness” and defining it through the writing process. There are times in which I’ve been challenged to begin writing anew, and this is due primarily to a feelings of mental emptiness – what is it I’m supposed to write about? Having read Ai Weiwei’s thoughts about this, it’s now increasingly clear – obvious perhaps – that writing helps one define (make visible) this emptiness.
This post is a good example of this. The emptiness I have been feeling is now a bit more defined. It’s very similar to drawing on a canvas or blank sheet of paper. It’s important to get something down on paper so that the creative process can truly begin. The blank paper is the emptiness. It’s up to me to fill that emptiness and create something anew.