#Artistic Intent

Speak It, Then Build It with Hands

All of this presumes stamina. Ai Weiwei’s persistence—despite surveillance and detention in 2011—illustrates that keeping faith with one’s own words can be costly. Yet endurance turns a declaration into a lineage: the work holds steady even when the speaker is pressured to relent. Ultimately, the quote is a compact: let language light the path, and let labor lay the stones. Speak clearly, then keep speaking with your hands until the world must answer you in the grammar of things. [...]