Pixelated with Lego: Ai Weiwei's new take on Monet's water lilies
The Guardian|March 21, 2023
Claude Monet's monumental triptych Water Lilies 1914-26, part of a series depicting lily ponds, will take on new meaning in a re-creation by the artist and activist Ai Weiwei in his forthcoming London exhibition.
Pixelated with Lego: Ai Weiwei's new take on Monet's water lilies

The brushstrokes used by the French impressionist to paint water and reflected landscapes are replaced by about 650,000 studs of Lego bricks in a 15-metre-long (50ft) work at the centre of Ai's biggest UK show in eight years, opening next month.

Titled Water Lilies #1, it is the largest Lego artwork by the celebrated global artist since he first adopted the medium in 2014 to produce portraits of political prisoners. It will span the entire length of a wall in the gallery at the Design Museum in Kensington, west London, where the exhibition opens on 7 April.

In the original masterpiece Monet depicts one of the lily ponds in the gardens of his home in Giverny, near Paris. Though his works are seen as a celebration of the natural world, the pond and gardens were man-made, designed and created by Monet himself at the turn of the 20th century. The artist even had the nearby Epte River partially diverted. 

In recreating the famous scene, Ai aims to challenge ideas of reality global artist since he first adopted the medium in 2014 to produce portraits of political prisoners . It will span the entire length of a wall in the gallery at the Design Museum in Kensington, west London, where the exhibition opens on 7 April.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 21, 2023 من The Guardian.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 21, 2023 من The Guardian.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GUARDIAN مشاهدة الكل
Unpaid carers 'It's been tough but politicians don't offer much'
The Guardian

Unpaid carers 'It's been tough but politicians don't offer much'

Hilary Osborne looks at the struggle for family members who look after relatives, while Minreet Kaur writes about her own experience

time-read
6 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Trevor McDonald was face of now-shelved NatWest share sale
The Guardian

Trevor McDonald was face of now-shelved NatWest share sale

A \"Tell Sid\"-style ad campaign featuring Sir Trevor McDonald was filmed to promote the government's now shelved plan to sell state-owned NatWest shares to the public, the Guardian can reveal.

time-read
1 min  |
June 29, 2024
The carbon cost of AI Green goals hit hard by drive to develop technology
The Guardian

The carbon cost of AI Green goals hit hard by drive to develop technology

If you want evidence of Microsoft's progress towards its environmental \"moonshot\" goal, look closer to Earth: at a building site in west London.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Tackle climate crisis and social injustice at the same time, Caroline Lucas tells Labour
The Guardian

Tackle climate crisis and social injustice at the same time, Caroline Lucas tells Labour

Labour must combine tackling the climate crisis with pursuing social justice, if elected, to show achieving net zero will not be done \"on the backs of the poor\", the former Green party MP Caroline Lucas has warned.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Fighting talk The 82-year-old dedicated to teaching India's oldest martial art to women
The Guardian

Fighting talk The 82-year-old dedicated to teaching India's oldest martial art to women

Today the pupils are schoolchildren, mostly aged from seven up to teenagers.

time-read
1 min  |
June 29, 2024
'I don't leave my flat' The Ukrainians hiding or fleeing to avoid the frontline
The Guardian

'I don't leave my flat' The Ukrainians hiding or fleeing to avoid the frontline

The autumn cannot arrive soon enough for Dmytro, when his handlers have promised to get him out of Ukraine.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 29, 2024
'It will be tight' Centrists make final effort to shore up support
The Guardian

'It will be tight' Centrists make final effort to shore up support

Standing in a courtyard framed by the white walls of one of Marseille's Armenian churches, Sabrina AgrestiRoubache, France's secretary of state tasked with citizenship, took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully as she addressed a voter who had admitted that she was considering switching to the far right.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Man accused of Holly Willoughby plot spent '99.9% of time online'
The Guardian

Man accused of Holly Willoughby plot spent '99.9% of time online'

A man accused of plotting to rape and murder Holly Willoughby has told a court he spent 99.9% of his time online as he struggled with mental health problems triggered by his lifethreatening weight gain.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Rushed, half-baked Has The Bear gone off the boil?
The Guardian

Rushed, half-baked Has The Bear gone off the boil?

The first season of award-winning TV drama The Bear was incredibly stylish, overwhelmingly propulsive and filled with characters you found yourself rooting for.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 29, 2024
Britain's gardeners embrace pond life as demand for aquatic plants grows
The Guardian

Britain's gardeners embrace pond life as demand for aquatic plants grows

Apond boom is happening in Britain's gardens as people try to halt biodiversity loss by digging water sources for amphibians and other aquatic life.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 29, 2024