Colby College students have such an amazing resource right on campus, yet many do not find the time to go and explore it; including myself. Walking through the museum last week was the first time that I have been to it this year. The museum is located right on campus and is open to everyone, yet I rarely make time to go and visit. Walking through the museum this time was particularly interesting as our guide was able to relate each art piece that we discussed to a larger topic that we have discussed in our class, and the topic of origins seemed to be present all throughout, even if it was not at first apparent.

I found the whole experience to be particularly interesting but was intrigued by some art pieces more than others. Through just an aesthetic look I would say that I was most intrigued by the painting that resembled a brain, located in the first part of the room that we entered. However, walking through the museum and listening to our tour guide talk I learned about a different piece of art, and would say that this particular one struck me as extremely interesting.

The controversial artist, Ai Weiwei, created a beautiful and thought provoking piece titled Colored Vases 2006-08. Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and activist that has been prominent and outspoken on contemporary issues. He is highly critical of the Chinese government and frequently speaks out against things he does not agree with. Weiwei created the Colored Vases piece through covering and decorating neolithic vases with industrial paint. At first I was shocked to hear that these vases were being ‘destroyed’ by industrial paint and thought that what he was doing was extremely disrespectful as these vases once belonged to someone else and represent the past. Covering it with a common day household item seemed destructive and defensive and somewhat selfish. However, the more our guide talked about the reasons for why he may have done this, the more my opinion changed. Hearing more about his background as an artist made more sense and I began to understand his message may be very different than what I originally thought.

I believe that art can be thought provoking and different people can take away different things from each piece. What I originally thought was my concrete opinion on this piece changed throughout time. I no longer found the artist to be disrespectful but rather revolutionary. The artist took an old relic and made changed its outward appearance while keeping the function of the vase the same, but recreated it to be more appealing to people today.