after reading Ai Weiwei's Zodiac
Finished reading: Zodiac by Ai Weiwei 📚
Something I've noticed about reading graphic novels is that I tend to let them wash over me: I experience them more than I understand them. I'm often left with a physical sense of the book that takes a couple of weeks to wear off. My physical sense of this book was like being a child sitting under a table while grown-ups talked about grown-up things and drank wine or coffee. Overtones of boredom and irritation, punctuated by curiosity (and a bone-deep defeated knowledge that nobody would be likely to indulge that curiosity).
Perhaps that's how Mr. Ai wanted me to feel, as the very last panel in the book is a drawing of him giving someone the finger. My revenge will be to shake off this feeling (I hope it doesn't take two weeks), and to continue being an artist in the only way I know how.
Two good reminders:
- There are countless ways to be an artist
- We don't get to control how others experience our work
