Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn is a photographic artwork created by Ai Weiwei in 1995. Composed of three 148 by 121 cm black-and-white photographs, it documents Ai holding, dropping, and standing over the remains of a Han dynasty urn that was approximately 2,000 years old. Ai broke two urns worth a few thousand dollars to complete this series of photographs, as the first group of photographs failed to capture the process.

Process

The urn used in Ai Weiwei's work was one of a group of Han urns that Ai acquired in the 1990s. This was Ai's second work using these urns. The first was Han Jar Overpainted with Coca-Cola Logo, created in 1994. During the process of Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, Ai chose another urn to re-photograph because the first shot failed to capture the descent of the urn.

Related works

In 2006, Ai selected 51 of the Han urns he had acquired to create Colored Vases, which was exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in conjunction with Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn. The work was recreated in Lego bricks in 2015.