Artist Ai Weiwei promises to accept Lego donations

According to the Chinese artist, Lego refused his order in September, reportedly saying “they can not approve the use of Legos for political works”.

Large carpets of Lego blocks were used to construct pixelated portraits of 175 prisoners of conscience, among them Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.

Weiwei went on to post a photo of Lego bricks in a toilet along with the name “R. Mutt 2015”, a reference to Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain.

“In response to Lego’s refusal and the overwhelming public response, Ai Weiwei has now decided to make a new work to defend freedom of speech and “political art”, he said in a new post overnight”. The motive(s) can not contain any political, religious, racist, obscene or defaming statements. Ai Weiwei Studio will announce the project description and Lego collection points in different cities.

“As a powerful corporation, Lego is an influential cultural and political actor in the globalised economy with questionable values”. Lego has looked to expand into China and plans to build a new manufacturing plant there.

The Guardian on Saturday revealed that the rejection may relate to the news that British firm Merlin Entertainments will open a Legoland park in Shanghai with the help of a Chinese partner.

But the question is: Why does LEGO even care what people do with its bricks? Twitter user Pohan Wu posted that Lego has to refuse Ai’s request because “sponsorship from Lego would suggest that it agrees with Ai Weiwei’s political view”.

Since Weiwei is well-known for both his art and his politics, Lego refused to sell him its bricks based on its policy not to associate the iconic toy bricks with politics, reported Mashable.

“Lego’s refusal to sell its product to the artist is an act of censorship and discrimination”, Ai said in the post.

“However, as a company dedicated to delivering great creative play experiences to children, we refrain – on a global level – from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of Lego bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda”.

The artist’s social media accounts were flooded with condemnations of Lego’s decision over the weekend. “This principle is not new”.

Ai – known for critiquing censorship by the Chinese government – said he meant to use Legos for a piece destined for an Australian exhibition in December.

“[Ai] is working on a new installation focusing on Australian activists, advocates and champions of human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of information and the internet”, NGV contemporary curator Max Delany said. Ai promised to “find a way to accept” donations, and on Monday tweeted a mailing address.