![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jgx2N9-10OaK013Rkgy6D1vPs7qzgY7ZDcQasKqgMtjsFIsI7PoFYCPCWlKshnH8RsqZr85YKIMNAri9TelOvoQK0FLKqqV5X2FCMsNFtA1o3GmrDF0guzZ-VWWEhwuRnqVhmhDtoWez/s400/Ai-Weiwei-Dropping-a-Han--001-thumb.jpg)
.this man is a valiant.artist.activist.
The triptych gained notoriety as an iconoclastic gesture, it encapsulates several broader constants in Ai’s work: the socio-political commentary on the random nature of vectors of power; questions of authenticity and value (vis-à-vis the artist’s comment that the value of “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” has today exceeded that of the once-prized urn itself), and the cycle of creative destruction necessary for any culture’s survival and evolution.