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Hanging Man: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei Hardcover – September 17, 2013

by Barnaby Martin (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
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The gripping story of post-Mao China and the harrowing fate of the artist and activist Ai Weiwei

In October 2010, Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds appeared in the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern. In April 2011, he was arrested and held for more than two months in terrible conditions. The most famous living Chinese artist and activist, Weiwei is a figure of extraordinary talent, courage, and integrity. From the beginning of his career, he has spoken out against the world's most powerful totalitarian regime, in part by creating some of the most beautiful and mysterious artworks of our age, works which have touched millions around the world.

Just after Ai Weiwei's release from illegal detention, Barnaby Martin flew to Beijing to interview him about his imprisonment and to learn more about what is really going on behind the scenes in the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party. Based on these interviews and Martin's own intimate connections with China, Hanging Man is an exploration of Weiwei's life, art, and activism and also a meditation on the creative process, and on the history of art in modern China. It is a rich picture of the man and his milieu, of what he is trying to communicate with his art, and of the growing campaign for democracy and accountability in China. It is a book about courage and hope found in the absence of freedom and justice.

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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  4. Publication date
    September 17, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    6.2 x 0.95 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0374167753
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0374167752
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

During a 2011 crackdown on dissidents in China, Ai Weiwei, the brilliant and courageous artist and activist who has magnetized a global Internet following, was arrested and held for 81 days. Though forbidden to speak with foreign journalists, he agreed to talk with Martin. They first met in London when Weiwei’s landmark Sunflower Seeds exhibition opened at the Tate. Martin sets the scene with a brisk overview of twentieth-century Chinese history and Weiwei’s family’s banishment to the Gobi Desert after his renowned poet father ran afoul of Mao. He also illuminates Weiwei’s ingenious, often collaborative art; pivotal role in catalyzing China’s contemporary art movement; and daring, innovative activism. In the stunned aftermath of his illegal detention, Weiwei recounts his terrifying and absurd ordeal, during which, handcuffed to a chair, he explained conceptual art to his surprisingly respectful interrogators and sympathized with the impoverished and oppressed young guards. Martin’s vivid and affecting portrait attests both to Weiwei’s now severely restricted circumstances and his undiminished spirit and conviction as an artist of conscience and a resounding champion for freedom and democracy, responsibility and justice. --Donna Seaman

Review

“Martin's vivid and affecting portrait attests both to Weiwei's now severely restricted circumstances and his undiminished spirit and conviction as an artist of conscience and a resounding champion for freedom and democracy, responsibility and justice.” ―Donna Seaman, Booklist

“Engaging and timely . . . Martin takes care to establish the historical, political, and artistic context of Ai's work . . . An excellent introduction to Ai and the power of contemporary Chinese art.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A book that offers great clarity on an important subject without succumbing to oversimplification.” ―Kirkus (starred review)

“[Martin's] fascinating, well-written book has many layers . . . Martin does an excellent job in linking Ai's case to that of other intellectuals and artists, and to the broader issues China faces.” ―Jonathan Fenby, The Times

“Fascinating ... Hanging Man is a com­pelling study of Ai's work and significance.” ―Stuart Kelly, Scotsman

“Martin's passion for the integrity of the artists and writers who pioneered China's artistic renaissance after Mao lifts this account . . . The result is a memorable snapshot of the inspiring figures who remain true to their creative ideals in today's China, despite the official repression of originality.” ―Isabel Hilton, The Guardian

“Hanging Man is the most detailed, comprehensive and eloquent English-language account of what happens these days to Chinese political prisoners . . . I want to underline how grateful I am to Martin for eluding Ai's guards and giving the artist an unequalled chance to explain what befell him . . . This is an invaluable book.” ―Jonathan Mirsky, Literary Review

“Barnaby Martin reveals not only the psyche of China's most celebrated artist and dissident, but through him--and through his prism of art--a whole society in crisis.” ―Colin Thubron, author of To a Mountain in Tibet

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition (September 17, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374167753
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374167752
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 0.95 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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Barnaby Martin

Barnaby Martin

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Elizabeth P. Stewart
5.0 out of 5 stars If you are at all interested in Ai Weiwei, ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
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If you are at all interested in Ai Weiwei, the artist and dissident, you will find this book fascinating. While sharing a series of interview with Ai after his release from interrogation in 2013, he also puts the artist's work in context of the politics and history of Communist China, international human rights, and western and Chinese art influences. A thoroughly absorbing book.
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Jocelyn Khosla
5.0 out of 5 stars ... a paper about Ai Weiwei and this book was great. Has more factual information about him than anything ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016
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I had to write a paper about Ai Weiwei and this book was great. Has more factual information about him than anything else I've read. Not too difficult or wordy to read either.
2 people found this helpful
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chrissy bear
4.0 out of 5 stars interesting interviews on detainment
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2014
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some of the history gets a bit long-winded, but overall the book is worth reading and very good. it's a broad cultural history of China in the 20th century to now mixed in among interviews with the artist about his detainment by Chinese authorities. also some history of the modern art and activist movement in China and the artist's role in these circles.
2 people found this helpful
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MORILLO
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2013
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One of the msot complete portraits of Ai WEiwei, with good background information on his family, friends, helps understand the existence of such an artist.
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Ideomotion, Llc Charlie Gutierrez
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2015
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A beautiful story about freedom of self expression in China.
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ash and dust
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2017
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interesting
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William Poy Lee, Esq.
3.0 out of 5 stars Ai Weiwei is a Humanist Who Loves His Country
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
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Surprisingly touching is Ai Weiwei's descriptions of his interactions with his captors over the nearly 3 months of his Kafkaesque detention. Although it would have been easy to demonize them, he speaks the truth of their intelligence, curiosity, naïveté ,
One person found this helpful
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cook lm
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2015
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Excellent reading
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Top reviews from other countries

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giorgia
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo
Reviewed in Italy on February 1, 2020
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Ottimo
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Susan Glazier
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and humbling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2013
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This is a wonderful book by Barnaby Martin about the Chinese artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei. It looks at the social meaning and function of art and draws parallels between the degree of free expression of artistic ideas within a society, and the degree of freedom afforded to the individual - in particular, the freedom (or not) for people to think new thoughts. The book helpfully summarises the social/political history of China since the 19th century and describes the highly repressive, bloody regime under Mao, before examining the incredibly hard lives of Ai Weiwei and his father, and Weiwei's art and linked political activism. Primarily, it deals with Weiwei's recent traumatic, frightening and ultimately damaging 81 days incarceration (with no formal charge or legal procedures) in 2011 by the secret police. It highlights just how repressive the regime in China still remains (maybe less repressive than North Korea, but totalitarian and Orwellian nevertheless) and how it seems to be desperately flaying about in its attempts to cling onto old-style power in a changing, competitive and modern world of which it is now a part. The book also deals with one or two other Chinese dissidents - people who, like Ai Weiwei, have taken "the line of most resistance", and describes their push for freedom of expression, their bravery and integrity. I would highly recommend this enlightening and humbling book which is compulsively readable. Although I haven't seen the stage version, this book has also been dramatised and is currently showing at the Hampstead Theatre in London (April/ May 2013).
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Jaarlsen
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2013
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An electrifying book. Straddled between New Journalism and literary reportage it succeeds in bringing a variety of complex and alien worlds into thoughtful focus through clear, unpretentious and humane prose. The dual prisms of Ai Wei Wei's own 'long march' and Martin's forays into China since the 1990s shine a light on the country that has revolved from forced agrarian famine to dominant global economic power in the blink of a few decades.

But Hanging Man reaches beyond the contradictions of Ai Wei Wei, contemporary art and modern China. Clear signs (epigraph from Victor Klemperer, interview with Gabriel Orozco) spirit the reader away from armchair reflections on a distant autocracy into a more immediate consideration of the contradictions and absurdities that lie everywhere between the forces of individual expression and those of societal diktat.

Plus it's the most honest examination of the psychology that lies behind conceptual art I have read in years.
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RP
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2013
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Great book depicting the history of China, Weiwei's family and his journey to the present day. Very insightful and at times entertaining.
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Captain Tash
5.0 out of 5 stars a work of written art
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2013
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This book beautifully incorporates an overview of contemporary Chinese politics and all the changes that have taken place in the last century, with a look of one of the greatest modern day artists and social commentators. The hard work and courage in creating this piece of writing, from both the author and the protagonist, pours out from every page. I love words and the way that this is written is inspiring. Barnaby Martin manages to maintain a humble and modest manner, whilst clearly impressing us, and even educating us, with his knowledge and understanding of Chinese culture, history and politics. He does this without prejudice, despite the obvious difficulty in explaining the incredulous corruption and loss of basic human rights without evoking any emotion.
If you read one book this year, make it this one. I've bought it twice for two friends already!
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