Ai Weiwei

There are very few disagreements that AWW is the most well known Chn contemporary artist of our times. But his political acts and motives are more controversial. I have heard skeptics saying his acts are there to get attention and fame for himself. Some say that his works have lost deeper meaning - its big for sake of being big, like the sunflower seed in the Tate.

Not being AWW, its hard to judge either way. Whatever is the art world's read on AWW and his works, I'd say for the Chinese society, having someone daring and courageous enough to have a different voice is clearly better than blind uniformity and silence. Is his 'stardom' a mean or an end? Is he 'too full of it' to see himself as the democracy martyr of China? What would we rather have in our society?